Counties across America may soon find themselves eligible for grants ranging in size from $500,000 to $5 million to tackle existing brownfields remediation projects.
The Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it is making available upwards of 200 individual grants for such work, worth a combined $235 million.
In announcing the availability of the grants, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the agency is investing in “removing longstanding barriers to brownfields redevelopment,” while at the same time “spurring economic growth in underserved communities.”
The grants will specifically fund county efforts to appraise and clean up brownfields sites, which can be anything from an abandoned factory, gas station, warehouse, or dry cleaning operation.
Contamination from such businesses include asbestos, lead, and hydrocarbon spillages, with such measures as bioremediation and soil vapor extraction, along with the removal of underground fuel storage tanks, used to clean up the sites.
The Brownfields Grants program was launched by the EPA in 1995 and has to date provided nearly $2.4 billion in grant funding to both assess and clean up contaminated properties.
According to a National Association of Counties announcement, counties are specifically eligible to apply for some $95 million in cleanup grants; $30 million in community-wide assessment grants; $40 million in assessment coalition grants; and $20 million in multipurpose grants.
In revealing the availability of the various brownfields funding, the EPA also announced an application deadline of November 13.
By Garry Boulard
