Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced over $4.8 million from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to expedite the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites in Southern California while advancing environmental justice.
EPA selected four entities in Southern California to receive grants totaling more than $4.8 million in competitive EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant programs. Thanks to the historic boost from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this is the most funding ever awarded in the history of the EPA’s Brownfields MARC Grant programs.
These investments 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.
"We're working across the country to revitalize what were once dangerous and polluted sites in overburdened communities into more sustainable and environmentally just places that serve as community assets. Thanks to President Biden’s historic investments in America, we’re moving further and faster than ever before to clean up contaminated sites, spur economic redevelopment, and deliver relief that so many communities have been waiting for,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “This critical wave of investments is the largest in Brownfields history and will accelerate our work to protect the people and the planet by transforming what was once blight into might."
“These Brownfields grants in Southern California are vital in EPA’s efforts to restore lands and the communities around them by removing harmful pollution and reviving the lands for beneficial uses,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “Brownfields funds enable and empower communities to create healthier, safer and more equitable futures for themselves.”
“Fighting for environmental justice is a priority for me. Having clean water to drink and clean air to breathe is not a privilege just for the affluent few – it is a right and common good for everyone,” said Dr. Raul Ruiz. “That is why EPA allocated robust funding from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to support the cities of Holtville, Calexico, and Calipatria in advancing environmental justice. By cleaning up environmental health hazards in our region, this funding will go a long way in improving the Imperial Valley’s public health and economic success.”
“Decades of oil operations and heavy industrial uses have contaminated soil and groundwater in communities throughout my Congressional District. That’s why I was proud to send a letter to Administrator Regan last year to advocate for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts’ pursuit of a federal funding opportunity through the EPA brownfield program to clean up a former oil site in Carson, California,” said Rep. Nanette Barragán. “The EPA brownfield program provides critical federal resources for community-based organizations and public entities to assess and remediate properties impacted by legacy toxins, and allows those communities to transform those spaces into a more effective use. The influx of brownfield program funding, made possible through the Infrastructure Law that I was proud to vote for last year, will help communities like Carson and the surrounding areas to recover from environmental harm, invest in sustainability, and create thousands of new jobs.”
“Safely cleaning up and reinvesting in properties with potentially hazardous materials strengthens our local tax base, promotes job growth, and protects public health and the environment,” said Rep. Sara Jacobs. “That’s why I’m so glad East County Economic Development Council Foundation will receive a much-needed $500,000 from the EPA to invest in properties and frontline communities that have been ignored and neglected for far too long.”
"We're excited to partner with the Environmental Protection Agency to support the City of El Cajon and address our brownfield challenges,” said James Sly, CEO of the East County Economic Development Council Foundation
“Our previous Brownfields program implemented in the City of Brawley was an astounding success despite the challenging pandemic. We were successful in lending expertise and assessment dollars to a number of current and pending developments throughout the program’s target area. These successes have led to thriving businesses in what was once blighted and stagnant brownfield sites,” said Sean Wilcock, Vice President of Business Development Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation
“We appreciate EPA’s Brownfields Cleanup grant that will help us clean up this property and put the property to productive use for the community,” said Robert C. Ferrante, Chief Engineer and General Manager of the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. “This property is the planned home of the Pure Water Southern California, a recycled water program that would benefit the Southwestern United States.”
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.
EPA’s Brownfields Program also advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative to direct 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments to disadvantaged communities. The Brownfields Program strives to meet this commitment and advance environmental justice and equity considerations into all aspects of its work. Approximately 84 percent of the MARC program applications selected to receive funding proposed to work in areas that include historically underserved communities.
State Funding Breakdown:
Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant Program Selection
The following organizations in Southern California have been selected to receive EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant Programs.
- East County Economic Development Council Foundation, Assessment Grant for $500,000: This grant will employ community engagement, strategic planning, and revitalization strategies to inventory, assess, and empower site-specific cleanup plans in the City of El Cajon.
- Imperial Regional Alliance, Inc., Assessment Grant for $500,000: The goals of the Imperial County community-wide assessment grant are to identify redevelopment opportunities and marry them with sites sitting idle due to real or perceived contamination. Imperial County’s program seeks to remedy these issues and provide sensible choices for future infill development.
- Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, Cleanup Grant for $1,834,838: Cleanup of the former Fletcher Oil and Refining Company Site is a necessary step to support efforts by the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to develop the Pure Water Southern California Program, which will include construction of an Advanced Water Treatment Facility that produces 150 million gallons of purified recycled water per day. Cleanup and redevelopment will help address ongoing drought conditions that are threatening water supplies in the area, which disproportionally impact disadvantaged communities.
- City of Los Angeles, Cleanup Grant for $2,000,000: The City of Los Angeles’ cleanup grant will address the Taylor Yard G2-Central site, which is a part of a larger brownfield site on the LA River. Historically a railyard and contaminated by petroleum industries, the City of Los Angeles plans to restore this site as part of a greater LA River initiative to restore ecosystems and habitats, form walkable trails along 52 miles of the river, and create easy access points for residents to enjoy what the river has to offer.
Brownfields Technical Assistance Providers and Research Grants
EPA is also announcing funding selection for two Brownfields technical assistance opportunities. The Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) selectees provide specialized technical knowledge, research, and training to help stakeholders understand brownfields-related subject matter, and guide them through the brownfield assessment, clean-up, and revitalization process. This assistance is a key part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advance economic opportunities and address environmental justice issues in underserved communities. This technical assistance is available to all stakeholders and comes at no cost to communities. The two funding opportunities announced today include the following:
- EPA selected Center for Creative Land Recycling to receive $5 million to provide training and technical assistance to communities across the entire region under the Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) Communities Program. This funding comes entirely from the historic $1.5 billion investment from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
- 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 in three areas, including providing technical assistance to nonprofits seeking to reuse brownfields; provide research, outreach, and guidance on minimizing displacement resulting from brownfields redevelopment; and providing outreach and guidance on land banking tactics for brownfields revitalization.
Additional Background:
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.
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.
The next National Brownfields Training Conference will be held on August 8-11, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan. Offered every two years, this conference is the largest gathering of stakeholders focused on cleaning up and reusing former commercial and industrial properties. EPA co-sponsors this event with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA).
- For more on Brownfields Grants: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-brownfields-grant-funding
- For more on EPA’s Brownfields Program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields