The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on May 20, 2024, over $300 million in grant awards.
The funding comes from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to help states, tribal nations, local governments and non-profits organizations assess and clean up polluted brownfield sites across the country.
The investments through the EPA’s Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grant Programs and Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grant Programs will help transform once-polluted vacant and abandoned properties into community assets, while helping create jobs and spur economic revitalization in overburdened communities, according to an EPA press release.
178 communities will receive 181 grant awards totaling $231 million through the EPA’s MAC Grant Programs.
The EPA is also announcing $68 million in supplemental funding for 31 existing, high-performing Brownfields RLF Grant Programs, as well as the selection of Grow America, an RLF Technical Assistance provider, for an estimated $3 million in grant funding.
The EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1955 and has provided nearly $2.7 billion in Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) has allowed the EPA to increase the yearly investment by nearly 400%. Before the BIL, the program made approximately $60 million available each year.
The grants can be administered once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied by selected recipients.
