Biden-Harris Administration Announces $8.5M in Brownfields Grants Through Investing in America Agenda to Rehabilitate and Revitalize Communities in Missouri
Funded by $1.5 billion investment into brownfield sites from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address legacy pollution, advance environmental justice, and create healthier communities
LENEXA, KAN. (MAY 20, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $8.5 million in grant awards from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to expedite the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites in Missouri, while advancing environmental justice.
These investments through EPA’s Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grant programs and Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grant programs will help transform once-polluted, vacant, and abandoned properties into community assets, while helping to create good jobs and spur economic revitalization in overburdened communities.
EPA selected the Mo-Kan Regional Council in Missouri to receive $500,000 in competitive EPA Brownfields funding through MAC Grant programs. In addition, the Agency is announcing $8 million in supplemental funding to four existing, high-performing Brownfields RLF Grant programs to help expedite their continued work at sites in Missouri.
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan will announce the awards in Philadelphia today, alongside Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and U.S. Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) at a local brownfield side near Bartram’s Mile.
For over 60 years, the site was used as an oil terminal, filled with storage tanks full of petroleum and other semi-volatile organic compounds. The City of Philadelphia has been working to reclaim brownfield sites along Bartram’s Mile, turning them into a community hub where residents can access trails for hiking and biking, as well as areas for fishing, gardening, farming, and more.
“Far too many communities across America have suffered the harmful economic and health consequences of living near polluted brownfield sites,” said President Joe Biden. “I've long believed that people who’ve borne the burden of pollution should be the first to see the benefits of new investment. Under my Administration, we are making that a reality by ensuring the historic resources from my Investing in America Agenda reach communities that need it most. I am proud that my Administration is helping Philadelphia clean up and transform this area into an economic engine, while tackling a longstanding environmental injustice and creating good-paying jobs.”
“President Biden sees contaminated sites and blighted areas as an opportunity to invest in healthier, revitalized communities,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “That’s why he secured historic funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, supercharging EPA’s Brownfields program to clean up contaminated properties in overburdened communities and bring them back into productive use.”
"EPA Region 7 is proud to deliver these Brownfields funding resources to our partner organizations across Missouri," said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meghan A. McCollister. "The Brownfields program is truly a win-win for everyone involved, and we are proud of our partners’ efforts to provide a cleaner and healthier environment for all, while at the same time spurring local economic development."
“I am proud Kansas City received another EPA award of $4.5 million in Supplemental Brownfield Revolving Loan Funds to continue cleaning up our community’s contaminated properties,” said Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas. “Past EPA awards have helped save and repurpose landmarks, including the Paseo YMCA and the Zhou B Art Center, build new community gems like the Mattie Rhodes Cultural Arts Center, and propel catalytic development at the former Hardesty Federal Complex. We appreciate the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to providing help where Kansas City needs it most to revitalize contaminated properties and achieve environmental justice in all of our neighborhoods.”
"The EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant program has been a valuable tool to the City of Cameron, Missouri,” said City of Cameron Chairman of Planning and Zoning Mike O'Donnell. “This program helps to identify, clean up, and mitigate dirty sights within the city. With this program, the city can provide a better living environment for our citizens."
“The City of Springfield is proud of our work with the EPA and excited to receive additional funding for environmental cleanup activities in our community. This ongoing work to assess, clean up, and facilitate the redevelopment and reuse of potentially contaminated properties, known as "brownfields," has been important, particularly in Springfield’s most under-resourced areas,” said Springfield Mayor Ken McClure. “These additional funds will continue that pattern of success in keeping a clean, green Springfield.”
“The City of Springfield has a long-standing and important partnership with EPA through our brownfields program,” said Economic Vitality Director for the City of Springfield Amanda Ohlensehlen. “This partnership has played a pivotal role in the revitalization of many environmentally challenged sites within Springfield. This substantive, supplemental Revolving Loan Funding will allow the city to continue to provide EPA-funded loans and subgrants to our community and ensure contaminated sites that threaten the health and well-being of our citizens continue to be remediated and put back into useful service. The program aligns with Forward SGF, the city’s Comprehensive Plan to help bring the community’s vision to life by catalyzing reinvestment to aid in creating quality places that prioritize people, place, and prosperity.”
"St. Louis Development Corporation is thrilled to accept this $2.5 million award from our long-standing partners at the U.S. EPA,” said St. Louis Development Corporation Executive Director Neal Richardson. “St. Louis has a number of sites where redevelopment is hindered by environmental concerns. These funds will be the catalyst for these long vacant sites to see new life and revitalize the surrounding areas.”
Many communities that are under economic stress, particularly those in areas that have experienced long periods of disinvestment, lack the resources needed to initiate brownfield cleanup and redevelopment projects. As brownfield sites are transformed into community assets, they attract jobs, promote economic revitalization, and transform communities into sustainable and environmentally just places.
Thanks to the historic $1.5 billion boost from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA’s Brownfields program is helping more communities than ever before begin to address the economic, social, and environmental challenges caused by brownfields and stimulate economic opportunity and environmental revitalization in historically overburdened communities.
EPA’s Brownfields program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. The Brownfields program strives to meet this commitment and advance environmental justice and equity considerations in all aspects of its work. Approximately 86% of the MAC and RLF Supplemental program applications selected to receive funding proposed to work in areas that include disadvantaged communities.
State Funding Breakdown
Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grant Programs’ Selections
The following organization in Missouri has been selected to receive EPA Brownfields funding through the MAC Grant programs:
- Mo-Kan Regional Council has been selected to receive $500,000. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct 20 Phase I and 10 Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to identify and prioritize additional sites; develop four cleanup plans; conduct two visioning sessions; prepare one site reuse plan and one revitalization plan; and conduct community engagement activities. The target area for this grant is the City of Cameron. Priority sites include the 4.3-acre Cameron Ballpark and several, vacant commercial buildings located on E. 3rd Street.
To see the list of the FY 2024 Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup applicants selected for funding, visit EPA’s FY 2024 Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup Applicants page.
Non-Competitive Supplemental Funding Through the Existing Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grant Programs
The Agency is announcing $8 million in non-competitive supplemental funding to four successful, existing RLF Grant programs that have already achieved success in their work to clean up and redevelop brownfield sites. RLF Grants provide funding for recipients to offer loans and subgrants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites. The funding announced today will help communities continue to address the economic, social, and environmental challenges caused by brownfield sites. The following Missouri organizations have been selected to receive non-competitive supplemental funding through the existing RLF Grant programs.
- Kansas City Regional Brownfields Coalition has been selected to receive $1 million. In addition to the $1.8 million in EPA funds already awarded, the Kansas City Regional Brownfields Coalition’s Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) has been selected to receive an additional $1 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), because it has a high-performing RLF program with significantly depleted funds. The RLF program has successfully made its first loan leading to one cleanup project that is either completed or in progress. The BIL funding will extend the capacity of the program to provide funding for more cleanups in the most underserved areas in Wyandotte County, Kansas; Kansas City, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Jackson County, Missouri.
- The City of Kansas City, Missouri, has been selected to receive $3.5 million. In addition to the $11,483,840 in EPA funds already awarded, the City of Kansas City’s Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) has been selected to receive an additional $3.5 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), because it has a high-performing RLF program with significantly depleted funds. The RLF program has successfully made loans or subgrants leading to 11 cleanup projects that are either completed or in progress. The BIL funding will extend the capacity of the program to provide funding for more cleanups in the most underserved areas in the City of Kansas City, Missouri.
- The City of Springfield, Missouri, has been selected to receive $1 million. In addition to the $3,060,000 in EPA funds already awarded, the City of Springfield’s Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) has been selected to receive an additional $1 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), because it has a high-performing RLF program with significantly depleted funds. The RLF program has successfully made loans or subgrants leading to 14 cleanup projects that are either completed or in progress. The BIL funding will extend the capacity of the program to provide funding for more cleanups in the most underserved areas in the City of Springfield.
- The St. Louis Development Corporation has been selected to receive $2.5 million. In addition to the $4,657,928 in EPA funds already awarded, the St. Louis Development Corporation’s Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) has been selected to receive an additional $2.5 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), because it has a high-performing RLF program with significantly depleted funds. The RLF program has successfully made loans or subgrants leading to 23 cleanup projects that are either completed or in progress. The BIL funding will extend the capacity of the program to provide funding for more cleanups in the most underserved areas in the City of St. Louis, Missouri.
To see the list of RLF Supplemental funding recipients, visit EPA's FY 2024 Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup Applicants page.
Additional Background
EPA has selected these organizations to receive funding to address and support the reuse of brownfield sites to address the health, economic, social, and environmental challenges caused by brownfields. EPA anticipates making all the awards announced today, once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied.
EPA’s Brownfields program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.7 billion in Brownfields Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. Prior to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this program made approximately $60 million available each year. Thanks to the President’s historic investments in America through this law, EPA has now increased that yearly investment nearly 400%. More than half of the funding available for this grant cycle (approximately $160 million) comes from the historic $1.5 billion investment from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This investment has also allowed the MAC grants’ maximum award amounts to increase significantly from $500,000 to a new maximum of $5 million per award.
- View the lists of the FY 2024 MAC applicants selected for funding and the RLF Supplemental funding recipients.
- Learn more about the RLF Technical Assistance grant recipients.
- Learn more about EPA’s Brownfields program.
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