Leveraging Federal Grant Funding for your Brownfield Project
Redevelopment of brownfield sites have become more popular as current infrastructure have started to age, and revitalization of the area is desired. However, it can be difficult to complete a brownfields redevelopment due to added environmental costs, including site assessments and investigations, remediation design and clean-up, and operation and maintenance of environmental solutions. A developer or investor’s expected return on investment can be outweighed by these environmental considerations to the point that redevelopment is not economically feasible for the site.
It is less known that funding mechanisms are available to help support brownfield redevelopment. In the United States, there are multiple types funding for brownfields redevelopment, both local to your region and at the federal level. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides over $4 billion USD in funding annually to support environmental goals1. These funding resources2, discussed below, were created to help incentivize and support brownfield redevelopments:
Assessment, clean-up, and multi-purpose grants: These funds are typically available to public government entities like cities and counties, as well as non-profit entities. Assessment grants are available for environmental assessments, planning, and community outreach. Clean-up grants are available to help support remediation and clean-up of the property once contamination is identified. Multi-purpose grants are the most flexible and can be used for assessment or clean-up activities. All of these grants do not typically require payback by the grantee. Assessment grants can be used at any property regardless of ownership. Clean-up and multi-purpose grants need to be used at a property owned by the municipality or non-profit entity.
Revolving loan fund: These funds are provided to public entities which allows them to provide follow-on loans or subgrants to groups in their jurisdiction at a low interest rate to fund clean-up at contaminated sites. Historically, revolving loan funds have been less attractive to borrowers due to low market interest rates. However, as interest rates have risen, these may become more attractive for brownfield developers.
Job training grants: These grants are typically used to help recruit, train, and place unemployed or underemployed residents of a community who are impacted by a brownfield site.
State and tribal response program grants: These grants are typically non-competitive grants to support state and Native American tribal brownfields programs.
As attractive as these grant and loan programs are, there are a few things to keep in mind prior to applying for EPA brownfield funding. First, these funding opportunities can be highly competitive depending on the region (urban areas, industrial areas, etc.) and not all proposed projects will be funded. It is recommended you engage an environmental consultant and seasoned environmental attorney who have experience with grant applications and can help your project through the application and award process. Second, for private entities evaluating funding opportunities, having a public sponsor or partner will likely be needed. Last, we recommend budgeting additional time to complete an application and be awarded the grants before completing the work. With the quick pace of construction in recent years, the increased emphasis on timing can detract from utilizing these grants.
1 EPA Grants | US EPA
2 Types of EPA Brownfield Grant Funding | US EPA
Kaitlin Thell Ouverson, PE, Geosyntec Consultants
Currently, Ouverson is building a career at Geosyntec Consultants, a multi-disciplinary consulting firm. She works primarily on brownfield redevelopment projects (due diligence, investigation, remedial design, and cleanup), but provides many services for environmental needs.
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