The EPA is announcing the selection of 155 grants for communities and tribes totaling over $65.6 million in EPA brownfields funding through the agency’s Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grant Programs. These EPA grant programs support community revitalization in under-served and economically disadvantaged communities.
“Grants awarded by EPA’s Brownfield Program provide communities and tribes across the country with an opportunity to transform contaminated sites into community assets,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Under President Trump’s leadership, EPA has delivered approximately $287 million in Brownfield grants directly to communities and nonprofits for cleanup and redevelopment, job creation, and economic development through the award of over 948 grants.”
Of the communities selected this year, 118 can potentially assess or clean up brownfield sites in census tracts designated as federal Opportunity Zones. An Opportunity Zone is a designated economically distressed census tract where new private investment, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment. Nearly 30% of the communities selected are receiving brownfields funding for the first time.
Communities that previously received brownfields grants used these resources to fund assessments and cleanups of brownfields and successfully leveraged 8.5 jobs per $100,000 of EPA brownfield grant funds spent. Brownfields grant funding is found to:
- Increase Local Tax Revenue: A study of 48 brownfields sites found that an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional local tax revenue was generated in a single year after cleanup. This is two to seven times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of these sites.
- Increase Residential Property Values: Another study found that property values of homes near revitalized brownfields sites increased between 5% and 15% following cleanup.