The Massachusetts Brownfields Act is a statute that allows eligible tax payers to receive a tax credit for costs directly incurred in remediating environmentally contaminated land in situations where the taxpayer did not cause the contamination. One of the qualification requirements for the Massachusetts Brownfields Tax Credit (BTC) is that the property must be located within “Economically Distressed Area” (EDA). For many land owners or developers with a potential Brownfields site the term, “Economically Distressed” is discouraging because they assume their property will not fit under this category. Many of these same owners/operators are surprised to learn that their properties are in actuality considered EDA’s. In fact, of the 351 Massachusetts cities and towns, there are 248 Economically Distressed Areas.
Most of the time, EDA’s are whole towns or cities, for example the city of Cambridge, or the town of Burlington.