Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $14,232,308 going to Pennsylvania from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to expedite the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites in Pennsylvania while advancing environmental justice.
EPA selected 18 communities in Pennsylvania to receive grants totaling more than $13.5 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 largest ever funding 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.”
“This unprecedented funding will make a big difference in communities where assessing and cleaning up idle properties can spur growth and create economically-thriving places,” said EPA Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “I’ve visited communities across Pennsylvania where past brownfields funding has helped revitalize neighborhoods, some with new, affordable housing, new jobs and businesses, and greener, healthier spaces.”
“Thanks to the infrastructure law, Pennsylvania can not only clean up contaminated brownfield sites but reinvigorate communities that have suffered from job loss, environmental degradation, and health problems,” said Senator Bob Casey (D – PA). “From Darlington to Nanticoke to Philadelphia, this funding will support community revitalization which will create safer environments for children and families and opportunities for new businesses and investment.”
“This funding coming in large part from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help clean up toxic waste and spills in nineteen different sites all across our Commonwealth,” said Senator John Fetterman (D – PA). “We’ve got to do everything we can to make sure our communities everywhere, no matter how rural, urban, or suburban, have clean air and water. This critical investment will help get us there.”
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.
In Pennsylvania, 18 organizations have been selected to receive EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant Programs. These two are among the 18 selected for MARC grants:
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has been selected to receive a $2 million grant to conduct 21 Phase I and 10 Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds will also be used to prepare five cleanup plans and to conduct community engagement activities including holding 20 community meetings. The target areas for this grant are communities impacted by coal-fired plants, communities within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and other small and rural communities throughout the state. Priority sites include a former coal-powered power plant, a former rail line and station, the Harrisburg International Airport, a mixed-use creek-side property, and a former paper mill.
- Earth Conservancy has been selected to receive over $1.9 million. Grant funds will be used to clean up the Nanticoke Creek watershed in Hanover Township. The cleanup site is on mine-scarred land with adjacent properties, particularly those upstream, that contain sulfide minerals. These minerals produce acid mine drainage that flows into the watershed, rendering groundwater impotable and impairing, if not destroying, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community outreach activities.
EPA also selected the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development to receive $600,000 in non-competitive supplemental funding for its existing Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grant program. PAID’s RLF grant program has successfully made loans or subgrants leading to four cleanup projects that have been completed. Potential projects highlighted for use of the BIL funding include Frankford Transportation Center, ACANA Africa Center, and Sharktown. 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 Philadelphia.
Read more about this year’s RLF recipients.
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 West Virginia University Research Corporation to receive $5 million to provide training and technical assistance to communities across the state 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.
- 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