EPA Announces 13 Communities Across Nation’s Pacific Southwest to Receive $6.85 Million in Revitalization Funding

Brownfields assessment and cleanup grants help underserved communities Build Back Better and address Environmental Justice concerns

May 11, 2021

SAN FRANCISCO – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing 13 communities in the Pacific Southwest region will receive $6.85 million in revitalization funding through Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grants. Nationwide, 151 communities will receive awards totaling $66.5 million.

This funding will support underserved and economically disadvantaged communities across the country in assessing and cleaning up contaminated and abandoned industrial and commercial properties, also known as “brownfields.” In the Pacific Southwest, six are first time Brownfields grants recipients, and eight projects will serve small communities of 10,000 people or fewer. Nationally, approximately 50 percent of selected recipients will receive EPA Brownfields Grant funding for the first time, and more than 85 percent are located in or serving small communities.

“Through our Brownfields Program, EPA is delivering on the Biden Administration’s commitment to lifting up and protecting overburdened communities across America, especially communities that have experienced long periods of disinvestment and decay,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “These assessment and cleanup grants will not only support economic growth and job creation, but they will also empower communities to address the environmental, public health, and social issues associated with contaminated land.”

“The great flexibility of the EPA Brownfields program helps communities address local concerns about underutilized properties while protecting public health,” said Deborah Jordan, EPA’s Acting Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest office. “These funds will spur investment to revitalize underserved communities throughout America’s Pacific Southwest region.”

In EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region, $5.15 million will provide funding for site assessments and $1.7 million will provide funding for cleanups.

Nationally, today’s grant announcement includes:

• $8.8 million for 11 Multipurpose Grants, which will provide funding to conduct a range of eligible assessment and cleanup activities at one or more brownfield sites in a target area. 

• $42.2 million for 107 Assessment Grants, which will provide funding for brownfield inventories, planning, environmental assessments, and community outreach.

• $15.5 million for 36 Cleanup Grants, which will provide funding to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites owned by the recipient.

The list of the fiscal year 2021 applicants selected for funding is available here: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicants-selected-fy-2021-brownfields-multipurpose-assessment-and-cleanup-grants. EPA anticipates that it will award the grants once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied by the selected recipients.

Since its inception in 1995, EPA's Brownfields Program has provided nearly $1.76 billion in grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return them to productive reuse. This has led to significant benefits for communities across the country. For example,

• To date, communities participating in the Brownfields Program have been able to attract more than $34.4 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding after receiving Brownfields funds. This has led to over 175,500 jobs in cleanup, construction, and redevelopment.

• Based on grant recipient reporting, recipients leveraged on average $20.13 for each EPA Brownfields dollar and 10.3 jobs per $100,000 of EPA Brownfield Grant funds expended on assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund cooperative agreements.

• In addition, an academic peer-reviewed study has found that residential properties near brownfield sites increased in value by 5% to 15.2% as a result of cleanup activities.

• Finally, analyzing data near 48 brownfields, EPA found an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional tax revenue for local governments in a single year after cleanup—2 to 7 times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of those brownfield sites.

For more on the Brownfields Grants: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-brownfields-grant-funding

For more on EPA’s Brownfields Program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields

Learn more about EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. Connect with us on Facebook and on Twitter. 

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