Vermont
Brownfields Program
The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) defines a brownfield as a property on which expansion, redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the release or threatened release of a hazardous material. DEC says its Brownfields Response Program works to give developers tools in three areas: limitation of environmental liability, technical assistance and financial assistance. In some instances it collaborates with the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development and Vermont's eleven Regional Planning Commissions. DEC's Brownfields Handbook, updated March 2023, describes how to navigate brownfields redevelopment projects.
In a Phase I ESA
ASTM E1527-21 lists state brownfield records among its standard sources. The general reading of a brownfields listing is on the Brownfields page. The pages read link no list of Vermont brownfield sites, so this handbook does not pair this program with that record type. The liability side of the program is BRELLA, and the oversight of investigation and cleanup is on the Contaminated sites page.
DEC's Brownfields Resources for Citizens page speaks to the Phase I directly. It says a copy of a Phase I ESA report should be submitted to DEC's Sites Management Section for review, and that DEC will help evaluate whether the report meets the current ASTM standards and so is a suitable prerequisite for certain liability protections and forms of funding assistance. The same page, as read, still names ASTM E1527-13 as the current standard practice. It says the records review should include, when possible, town land records, Manning's City Directories and Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, and calls the Agency of Natural Resources' Natural Resources Atlas an important resource.
Who pays for assessment and cleanup
DEC's Financial Assistance page describes the most commonly available funding sources. Besides EPA's own assistance programs, it names three:
- DEC. DEC provides technical and financial assistance with environmental site assessment, cleanup planning and cleanup. All work is paid for by DEC and performed by pre-qualified contractors.
- The Regional Planning Commissions. They provide technical and financial assistance for environmental site assessment and cleanup planning to eligible brownfield projects in each region. The work is paid for by the commission and performed by pre-qualified consultants, with DEC's project oversight.
- The Brownfields Revitalization Fund. It is administered by the Agency of Commerce and Community Development in consultation with DEC, with funds awarded by EPA, and offers grants and loans for the remediation of brownfield sites. Loans are available to private developers, nonprofits and municipalities; grants only to nonprofits and municipalities.
Because these programs pay for assessments, ask whether a DEC- or commission-funded assessment of the property, or a neighboring one, was already done.
Where to look a site up
- The pages read link no list or search of brownfield sites. DEC's Contaminated Sites page links the Environmental Research Tool (ERT) and the ANR Atlas, where it says the properties managed by the Sites Management Section are listed.
- The Brownfields Program's mailing address is Department of Environmental Conservation, Brownfields Program, 1 National Life Drive, Davis 3, Montpelier, VT 05620-3521, and its phone is (802) 828-1138.
Getting the file
The Brownfields Program pages give no route of their own for a file. For a site's investigation and cleanup file, DEC's Contaminated Sites page says to contact the DEC project manager for reports, and to email the division staff it names to complete a public records request to review the entire site file. DEC's pages link, in their footer, Request public information and Department of Environmental Conservation Records Liaisons, both on the Agency of Natural Resources' public records page, which this handbook did not read.
Sources
Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown: