EPA selects Idaho project for $500,000 in brownfields funding
EPA announces the largest investment ever in brownfields communities made by President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda
SEATTLE (May 25, 2023) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $500,000 from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to expedite the assessment and cleanup of a brownfield site in Idaho, while advancing environmental justice.
Idaho’s community will receive EPA funds through the Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grant programs, as well as the Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities Program.
“This historic investment from EPA’s Brownfields program demonstrates the Biden Administration’s commitment to building stronger neighborhoods and spurring economic development, especially in overburdened and underserved areas,” said EPA Region 10 Administrator Casey Sixkiller. “These grants will help communities assess and clean up contaminated properties, which is often a catalyst for revitalization. We are proud that we can help these communities make progress and thrive.”
These investments totaling $315 million are part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to grow the American economy from the bottom up and middle-out – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to driving over $470 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States, to creating a manufacturing and innovation boom powered by good paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree, to building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.
“The Brownfields Program has a proven record of helping communities remove and replace abandoned, polluted properties with prospering new businesses, parks and residential areas,” said Senator Mike Crapo. “These grants will allow underserved Idaho cities and towns to focus resources on bettering the lives of community members at the local level.”
Many communities that are under economic stress, particularly those located 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.
The following organization in Idaho was selected to receive EPA brownfields funding:
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Southeast Idaho Council of Governments - $500,000 to conduct six Phase I and eight Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to prepare a brownfield site inventory, conduct reuse planning, and community engagement activities. The target areas for this grant are Bingham, Power, and Bannock Counties.
Additionally, the Center for Creative Land Recycling will receive $5,000,000 to provide training and technical assistance to communities in the states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington under the Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities Program.
EPA is also expanding the scope of its technical assistance offerings under the Brownfields and Land Revitalization Program to include three new subject-specific grants totaling $2 million.
More information about Brownfields Technical Assistance and Research
FY23 EPA Brownfield Technical Assistance Grant Selections
Additional Background:
EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.37 billion in Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. EPA’s investments in addressing brownfield sites have leveraged more than $36 billion in cleanup and redevelopment. Over the years, the relatively small investment of federal funding has leveraged, from both public and private sources, nearly 260,000 jobs. Communities that previously received Brownfields Grants used these resources to fund assessments and cleanups of brownfields, and successfully leverage an average of 10.6 jobs per $100,000 of EPA Brownfield Grant funds spent and $19.78 for every dollar.
EPA has selected these organizations to receive funding to address and support the reuse of brownfield sites. EPA anticipates making all the awards announced today once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied.