Brownfields in the Pacific Southwest: Vacant to Vibrant, Land Renewal
About Us
EPA’s Pacific Southwest region, in collaboration with our technical assistance provider, the Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR), is pleased to announce our initiative – Vacant to Vibrant, Land Renewal – to share exciting, historic funding opportunities available to your community.
Congress provided significant financial support for community infrastructure and reinvestment through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. EPA’s Pacific Southwest Brownfields Team is reaching out to economically burdened communities new to EPA about accessing resources to protect the environment and support community and economic development. We invite you to set up a phone call with us at the link above.
EPA’s Brownfields program supports the evaluation, cleanup, and transformation of underused properties into community benefits such as new housing, open space, and commercial development. Redeveloped brownfields create jobs and build wealth locally. Our goal is to be an early partner in community efforts to reuse vacant land to promote a vibrant, healthier, and stronger community.
Example Projects
Vacant Lot to New Home
Work with the Pacific Southwest Brownfields Team to learn exciting ways to financially support your land renewal work with our Vacant to Vibrant initiative – helping you reuse vacant land to promote a vibrant, healthier, and stronger community.
Gas Station to EV Charging Station
Collaborate with the Pacific Southwest Brownfields Team to discover the possibility of new uses for land. Learn about new opportunities through our Vacant to Vibrant initiative to financially support your land renewal work. The Vacant to Vibrant program can help you reuse vacant land to promote a vibrant, healthier, and stronger community.
Auto Shop to Multifamily Housing
Join the Pacific Southwest Brownfields Team in reimagining abandoned properties in your community. Learn how the Vacant to Vibrant initiative can financially support your land renewal work to promote a vibrant, healthier, and stronger community.
- Communities and affordable housing providers are partnering to safely transform brownfields into multifamily affordable housing. In Emeryville, California a former auto shop is now 87 rental apartments close to transit.
Questions & Answers
What can a brownfield become?
Brownfields can be safely cleaned up and reused. EPA supports economic development, local wealth building, and community resiliency through the identification, cleanup, and reuse of these properties. Redevelopment can look like new:
- Housing
- Commercial Development
- Parks and Gathering Spaces
- Community Gardens
- Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
- Industrial Development
What technical assistance is available?
EPA offers a range of free technical assistance from EPA staff to EPA contractors. EPA also supports Technical Assistance to Brownfields providers who can provide brownfield life cycle support.
Read more about available technical assistance:
Additional resources are available at Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR).
Can you explain how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law supports redevelopment?
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $1.2 billion for EPA to invest in cleaning up brownfield sites, helping to restore the economic vitality of communities. Read more about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: A Historic Investment in Brownfields.
What are the benefits of the EPA Brownfields program?
- Environmental information reduces uncertainty and helps the community and investors make reuse decisions.
- EPA’s early engagement helps attract new partners, such as grant programs and private investors.
- Working with EPA supports applications for additional technical assistance and grants.
- The program funds Technical Assistance to Brownfield (TAB) providers throughout the country. The Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR) is your region’s provider.
What communities can take advantage of this opportunity?
This initiative aims to connect, listen, and engage with leaders in communities that are new to EPA partnerships and have environmental concerns. We are meeting with communities throughout EPA's Pacific Southwest (Region 9), which includes Arizona, California, Hawai’i, Nevada, the Pacific Islands, and 148 tribal nations.