Biden Administration Awards $254M for Brownfield Cleanup
The funds will go to clean sites in 265 communities.
The Biden Administration this week announced that $254 million will be awarded for brownfield cleanup.
According to a press release, the funding through the EPA will go towards brownfield projects at 265 communities.
Brownfield projects are vacant sites that require additional cleanup, potentially due to “hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant” before they can be reused. These sites, once cleaned up, are used to improve the community. This year, about 86 percent of the projects are in “historically underserved areas.”
Many past brownfield sites were turned into places like health centers, parks or solar farms. Some of the sites included in this award include a former coal mine in Pennsylvania that will be turned into a solar farm and a former dump site in Montana that will also be a solar farm. Per the press release, the Montana solar farm is estimated to save locals $2.8 million in energy cost in 25 years.
The $254.5 million will cover a variety of grants. Cleanup Grants will be funded by $18.2 million. This money goes towards cleanup at 36 brownfield sites. A total of $112.8 million will go to Assessment Grants. These funds cover “brownfield inventories, planning, environmental assessments, and community outreach” for 183 sites. About $16.3 million is dedicated for Revolving Loan Fund Grants. This funding is for loans and subgrants for 17 brownfield sites. The last grant funded at $107 million is the high-performance Revolving Loan Fund Grants. This money will fund continued work at 39 brownfield sites.
“EPA’s Brownfields Program is the true embodiment of turning adversity into opportunity— it takes contaminated and potentially hazardous places and turns them into thriving generators of economic prosperity,” said Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Chairman Tom Carper in the press release. “Today’s announcement is great news for the nation, as we unveil vital investments from our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help more communities benefit from this transformative program.”
Since 1995, more than $35 billion has been invested in brownfield cleanup.
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