Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grant Program

• to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning and community involvement related to brownfield sites;
• to capitalize a revolving loan fund and provide subgrants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites; and
• to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites owned by the grant recipient

Consortia or Intertribal Consortia, Indian Tribal Governments, Educational Institutions, Local Governments, Nonprofit Groups (excluding entities with lobbying activities), State/Territorial Agencies, Tribal Nations/Agencies, Universities. Please note that nonprofit groups that are 501(c)(6) are only eligible for the Brownfields Cleanup Grant.

A site must meet the definition of a brownfield site found at the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 101(39). Activities include inventorying, characterizing, assessing, and conducting planning and community involvement related to brownfield sites. Additional support activities include program management and purchase of environmental insurance. A local government may use up to 10 percent of funds to monitor the status of controls used to protect human health and the health of people exposed to hazardous substances related to the site. Brownfields Cleanup and Multipurpose Grant funds must be used to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites owned by the grant recipient.

Revolving loan fund project grant recipients must use at least 50 percent of the awarded funds to capitalize and implement a revolving loan fund and may use its funds to award subgrants to other eligible entities, including eligible nonprofit organizations, for brownfield cleanups on sites owned by the subgrantee.

Multipurpose Grants: Up to $800,000 

Assessment Grant funds:

• Community-wide Assessment Grants: Up to $500,000. 
• Assessment Coalition Grants: A coalition of three to five eligible applicants can submit one grant application under the name of one of the coalition members for up to $1,000,000.

Revolving Loan Fund Grants: up to $1,000,000

Cleanup Grants: $500,000 to $2,000,000

Matching requirements are not applicable for Brownfield Assessment Grants. Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 104(k)(10)(B)(iii), Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup Grants require a 20 percent cost share, which may be in the form of a contribution of money, labor, material or services, and must be for eligible and allowable costs. A Revolving Loan Fund or Cleanup Grant applicant may request a waiver of the 20 percent cost-share requirement based on financial hardship.

Multipurpose Grants require a programmatic $40,000 cost share which may be in the form of a contribution of money, labor, material, or services, and must be for eligible and allowable costs.

Projects funded with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds will not require a cost share.

Application review information and criteria are included in the annual guidance. General criteria include:

• The extent to which a grant will stimulate the availability of other funds for environmental assessment or remediation, and subsequent reuse, of an area in which one or more brownfield sites are located.
• The potential of the proposed project or the development plan for an area in which one or more brownfield sites are located to stimulate economic development of the area upon completion of the cleanup.
• The extent to which a grant would address or facilitate the identification and reduction of threats to human health and the environment, including threats in areas in which there is a greater-than-normal incidence of diseases or conditions (including cancer, asthma or birth defects) that may be associated with exposure to hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants.
• The extent to which a grant would facilitate the use or reuse of existing infrastructure.
• The extent to which a grant would facilitate the creation of, preservation of, or addition to a park, a greenway, undeveloped property, recreational property or other property used for nonprofit purposes.
• The extent to which a grant would meet the needs of a community that has an inability to draw on other sources of funding for environmental remediation and subsequent redevelopment of the area in which a brownfield site is located because of the small population or low income of the community.
• The extent to which the applicant is eligible for funding from other sources.
• The extent to which a grant will further the fair distribution of funding between urban and nonurban areas.
• The extent to which the grant provides for involvement of the local community in the process of making decisions relating to cleanup and future use of a brownfield site.
• The extent to which a grant would address or facilitate the identification and reduction of threats to the health or welfare of children, pregnant women, minority or low-income communities, or other sensitive populations.
• The extent to which a grant would address a site adjacent to a body of water or a federally designated flood plain.
• The extent to which a grant would facilitate the location at a brownfield site of a facility that generates renewable electricity from wind, solar, or geothermal energy; or any energy efficiency improvement project at a brownfield site, including a project for a combined heat and power system or a district energy system.
• In addition, applicants will be required to demonstrate that site specific activities are carried out at sites that meet the definition of a brownfields site at Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 101(39).