40% of the communities selected for funding will be receiving such assistance for the first time.
108 communities selected for grants this year have identified sites or targeted areas in census tracts designated as federal Opportunity Zones. An Opportunity Zone is an economically-distressed community where new investment, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment.
Some of the selected OZ brownfield projects selected for MAC Grant funding include:
- Detroit, Michigan – to clean up the Riverside Park and provide a unique recreational venue that will include energy efficient LED and solar-powered lighting throughout the park.
- Waukegan, Illinois – to remediate vacant property, along Lake Michigan, which is expected to spur redevelopment of the lakefront.
- Rock Falls, Illinois – to clean up the last brownfield site along Rock River, making it the final obstacle overcome before riverfront redevelopment.
- Columbus, Georgia – to clean up dilapidated buildings near the Chattahoochee Waterfront, including a restaurant, offices, warehouses, covered loading areas, and a vehicle maintenance building.
- Huntington, West Virginia – to help redevelop former facilities into a new multistate enterprise, which is aimed at producing sustainable jobs through materials upcycling, recycling, composting operations, and logistics.
- Belfast, Maine – to help clean up and revitalize a contaminated building and make energy-efficient improvements such as LED lighting, triple-glazed windows, and a solar electricity-generating system that is expected to generate 100 percent of the building’s energy needs.
To learn more about the applicants selected for funding, visit the EPA Brownfields Website
U.S. EPA Brownfield Assessment and Cleanup Grant Awards Announced
On June 7, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) announced approximately $15.7 million in supplemental funding to communities to assist them in cleaning up contaminated brownfield properties. U.S. EPA plans to provide supplemental funding to 33 successful, existing Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) grantees, helping communities carry out cleanup and redevelopment projects.
“These supplemental funds provide communities with the resources they need to continue to clean up contaminated lands, which will improve public health and generate economic growth,” said U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “These funds will ensure more cleanups are completed and more land can be returned to beneficial reuse.”
The Indiana Finance Authority is among the selected communities/states selected for FY18 supplemental funding. It will receive an award of $500,000 for petroleum contamination.
The Brownfields RLF program supports U.S. EPA’s commitment to assist communities in addressing environmentally challenged properties and meet their local revitalization priorities. The supplemental funds announced today will help communities reuse vacant and abandoned properties and turn them into community assets such as housing, recreation and open space, health facilities, social services, transportation options, infrastructure and commerce opportunities.
RLFs specifically supply funding for loans and sub-grants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites. The supplemental funding to each grantee ranges from about $200,000 to $500,000. These funds are provided to communities who have shown achieved success in their work to clean up and redevelop brownfield sites.
A recent national study shows that cleaning up brownfields leads to residential property value increases of 5 - 15.2% within a 1.24-mile radius of the site. (Haninger et al. 2017). Another study analyzing data near 48 brownfields found that an estimated $29 to $97 million in additional tax revenue is generated for local governments in a single year after cleanup. This is two to seven times more than the $12.4 million U.S. EPA contributed to the cleanup of those brownfields.
More information on U.S. EPA’s Brownfields program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields or https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/announcing-fy18-supplemental-funding-brownfields-revolving-loan-fund-grants
On April 25, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) announced that 144 communities will receive 221 grants totaling $54.3 million in U.S. EPA Brownfields funding through its Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) Grants to assess, clean up and redevelop underutilized properties while protecting public health and the environment. These funds will expand the ability of communities to recycle vacant and abandoned properties for new, productive reuses.
In addition, communities can use Brownfields funding to leverage considerable infrastructure and other financial resources. For example, U.S. EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund can be used, under certain conditions, to address the water quality aspects of brownfield sites and the assessment and construction of drinking water infrastructure on brownfields, respectively. U.S. EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program may also serve as a potential source of long-term, low-cost supplemental financing to fund brownfields project development and implementation activities to address water quality aspects of brownfields.
Settlement to Pay for Environmental Cleanup of Old GM Sites
Since October 20, 2010, a $773 million environmental response trust was created to address environmental liabilities associated with Motors Liquidation Corporation, (old General Motors). Eight(8) old GM facilities in Indiana are included in the trust settlement. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is the lead regulatory agency for five of the eight sites and continues to oversee and monitor environmental cleanup of the sites by the court-appointed trustee and redevelopment managers that are responsible for contracting and cleanup implementation. For more information, visit the following web sites:
White House Fact Sheet on Environmental Liabilities with GM
U.S. EPA's GM Bankruptcy Settlement Website
Indiana Attorney General's Office Press Release
Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) Grants
On November 22, 2013, U.S. EPA announced and posted its guidelines for the Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) Grants for Federal Fiscal Year 2014. The deadline for grant proposals is January 22, 2014.
Brownfields Tax Provisions Extended
The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 recently enacted by Congress includes a provision for the Expensing of Environmental Remediation Costs. The amendment made by Section 745 shall apply to expenditures paid or incurred after December 31, 2009 and extends expensing through December 31, 2011. Environmental cleanup costs are fully deductible in the year incurred, rather than capitalized and spread over time. Improvements in 2006 expanded the tax incentive to include petroleum cleanup. The extension of the Brownfields Tax Incentive encourages the cleanup and reuse of brownfields.
Brownfields in the News
6/17/08: IFA approves second round of brownfield grants for SFY 2008
6/6/08: IFA celebrates "World Environment Day" by hosting Sustainability Workshop
5/27/08: Sustainability Workshop part of International "World Environment Day"
5/16/08: IFA Sustainability Workshop June 5: Registration deadlines near, key leaders in sustainability to speak
4/22/08: Workshop to educate, help create new incentives for sustainable infrastructure
4/8/08: Indiana awarded $2M federal grant to address brownfields statewide
2/22/08: IFA approves first round of assessment through Trails and Parks Initiative
12/18/07: IFA approves first round of brownfield grants for SFY 2008
U.S. EPA Brownfields Grant Proposal Workshop - Sept. 13, 2007
TAB Services Powerpoint
Grant Writing Tips for TAB
EPA Grants Powerpoint
Brownfields Renewal Workshop - Sept. 6, 2007
Presentations available on NALGEP's website