Tuesday, October 21, 2014

EPA Brownfield Grant Guidelines Posted!!! - Deadline - December 19, 2014

The Brownfield Assessment and Cleanup Guidelines are now publicly available and should be posted on www.grants.gov .  

The Guidelines are posted on the OSWER website (http://www.epa.gov/oswer/grants-funding.htm) and will also be posted, along with the supplemental guidance documents, on the OBLR website (http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/applicat.htm).

The direct link to the Guidelines are:
Assessment: http://www.epa.gov/oswer/docs/grants/epa-oswer-oblr-14-07.pdf
Cleanup: http://www.epa.gov/oswer/docs/grants/epa-oswer-oblr-14-08.pdf.

Proposals are due December 19, 2014.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Getting Started- Guidance on Preparing Your EPA Brownfield Area-Wide Planning Grant Proposal !

Some applicants find it difficult to prepare their grant proposals within 60 days, the typical amount of time the Request for Proposals (RFP) allows until the proposals are due.  However, there are several activities that applicants can perform to begin to prepare their proposals in advance of the RFP being made publicly available. So to help applicants get started we at EPA have developed a new guide document.

Potential applicants for EPA's Brownfield Area-Wide Planning grants can get a head start with proposal preparation by familiarizing themselves with the document below, discussing possible projects with local partners and stakeholders, pulling together important information, and working with their local Brownfield contacts to resolve any questions about brownfield site eligibility. We hope this information will help applicants prepare a thorough, well-organized, and timely proposal.

Brownfields Area Wide Planning Program 

Getting Started Early on Preparing your BF AWP Grant Proposal (PDF)

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

EPA Awards Nearly $2 Million in Brownfield Grants to Cleanup and Revitalize Communities in Mississippi

ATLANTA, Ga. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today, May 28, 2914, that it plans to award five communities in Mississippi with brownfield grants for new investments to provide communities with funding necessary to clean and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and create jobs while protecting human health.

"Not only are these funds protecting the environment and public health by helping communities clean up blighted toxic waste sites, there are new job growth opportunities for local economies to leverage through these investments," said Gina McCarthy, EPA Administrator.

"With cities looking at how to combat the impacts of climate change, it's more important than ever for communities to innovate new ways to retrofit formerly polluted, unused sites for renewable energy use."

The Mississippi brownfield grant recipients are:

-- City of Biloxi ($200,000 assessment grant for petroleum and $200,000 assessment grant for hazardous substances)
-- City of Corinth ($200,000 assessment grant for petroleum and $200,000 assessment grant for hazardous substances)
-- City of Gautier ($200,000 assessment grant for petroleum and 200,000 assessment grant for hazardous substances)
-- City of Laurel ($200,000 assessment grant for petroleum and 200,000 assessment grant for hazardous substances)
-- Monroe County ($350,000 assessment grant for hazardous substances)


EPA’s Brownfield Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfield Revitalization Act was passed to help states and communities around the country clean up and revitalize brownfield sites. Under this law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.

                                                 

A total of approximately $23.5 million is going to communities that have been impacted by plant closures. Other selected recipients include tribes and communities in 44 states across the country; and at least 50 of the grants are going to HUD-DOT-EPA grant recipient communities.



Since the inception of the EPA’s Brownfield program in 1995, cumulative brownfield program investments have leveraged more than $21 billion from a variety of public and private sources for cleanup and redevelopment activities. This equates to an average of $17.79 leveraged per EPA brownfield dollar expended. These investments have resulted in approximately 93,000 jobs nationwide. These projects demonstrate the positive impact a small investment of federal brownfield funding can have on community revitalization through leveraging jobs, producing clean energy, and providing recreation opportunities for surrounding neighborhoods. EPA’s Brownfield Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfield sites.

                                                                    

More information on brownfield grants by state: http://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/



More information on EPA’s brownfields:








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