Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $2 Million Through Investing in America Agenda to Restore and Revitalize Arizona Communities
Funded by $1.5 billion national investment from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address legacy pollution, advance environmental justice, and create healthier communities through Brownfields projects
SAN FRANCISCO – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $1,992,681 in grant awards from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to expedite the assessment and cleanup of so-called brownfield sites – contaminated properties that often constitute blight on a community -- in Arizona. These investments through EPA’s Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grant Program, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will help turn polluted properties into community assets while helping to create good-paying, rewarding jobs and spur economic revitalization in overburdened communities.
EPA has chosen the Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG) and Pima County, Arizona, to receive funding from the competitive EPA Brownfields MAC Grant Program. These grants, totaling almost $2 million, will directly benefit the communities of Flagstaff, Show Low, Winslow, Prescott, Kingman, Munds Park, and Tucson, Arizona, helping support their transformation and economic growth.
"With this historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, the EPA is helping Arizona transform polluted, abandoned sites into thriving community assets," said U.S. EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman, "These grants will not only provide resources to communities seeking to revitalize, but also provide stable, good-paying jobs in areas that have faced underinvestment for far too long."
“Our infrastructure bill is addressing environmental and economic needs across Arizona,” said U.S. Senator Mark Kelly. “By investing in the cleanup of brownfield sites, these funds will help transform the outlook of entire communities, driving economic growth and improving the environment in which families grow and thrive.”
“Thanks to my Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re cleaning up brownfield sites in Northern Arizona and Pima County to ensure our communities are vibrant, safe, and healthy places to live and thrive,” said U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, co-author and lead negotiator of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“Thanks to the continued push by Democrats to address environmental pollution in our communities and the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), we are seeing federal funds coming to Pima County and will finally turn a corner to redevelop this once contaminated site,” said U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva. “I’m proud to see BIL funding will be used to address the Roger Road Wastewater Reclamation Facility, and I will continue to support programs that build cleaner, healthier communities.”
“NACOG [Northern Arizona Council of Governments] is pleased to receive this award on behalf of our member jurisdictions across northern Arizona,” said Supervisor and NACOG Regional Council Chairman Alton Joe Shepherd. “The Brownfields program has been an invaluable resource to support reinvestment and revitalization in our local communities. This grant award will allow the region to expand on the successful work of the Route 66 Brownfields Coalition.”
Pima County Permit & Regulatory Compliance Officer Kimberly Baeza added, “We feel so much gratitude for all the support EPA has provided to Pima County. This award is a triumph for the wildlife that already uses the decommissioned Roger Road property, as well as for the community that wants to see this property returned to beneficial community use. Though stable so far, we are delighted that we’ll be removing all risk of future releases to the environment from these structures, and many community partners will be thrilled that this important step in the redevelopment process will soon be underway.”
Arizona Funding Breakdown:
The EPA selected the Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG) to receive a $1.5 million Brownfields Assessment Coalition Grant. The grant will be used to identify potentially polluted sites, complete subsequent environmental assessments, and conduct cleanups, area-wide plans, and community engagement activities to alert residents to potential actions and seek community input throughout the process.
NACOG’s assessment activities will focus on the cities of Flagstaff, Kingman, Show Low, Winslow, Prescott, and Munds Park. Additionally, NACOG has already prioritized a former residential mobile home park, a former oil distribution center, a former dry cleaner and laundry constructed in 1945, a 154-acre vacant property near a wood processing plant destroyed by a fire, and an abandoned former food store for this work.
The EPA also selected Pima County to receive a $492,681 Brownfields Cleanup Grant to clean up the Roger Road Wastewater Reclamation Facility property at 2600 West Sweetwater Drive in Tucson. Decommissioned in 2014, this 47-acre former wastewater treatment plant is contaminated with heavy metals and inorganic contaminants. Grant funds will also be used to develop a Community Involvement Plan and effectively engage with the impacted communities.
Additional Background:
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 communities 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.
You can read more about this year’s MAC Grant selectees here.
Approximately 86% of the MAC and RLF Supplemental program applications selected to receive funding proposed to work in areas that include overburdened communities. 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 finalizing 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 Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. Before the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this program made approximately $60 million available yearly. Thanks to the President’s historic investments in America through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA has increased that yearly investment by nearly 400 percent. 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 significantly increased the MAC grants’ maximum award amounts from $500,000 to a new maximum of $5 million per award.
Learn more about EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region here, and visit our Instagram, Facebook, and X.