Federal Brownfield Grants

The U.S. EPA provides three types of large grants for environmental assessment and cleanup. Please see the EPA web site [exit DNR] for more information.

New! Grant applications are due November 14, 2008.

• Grant Basics
• Contacts
• Grant Summary Chart
• Obtaining Your State Letter of Support
• Obtaining Site-Specific Eligibility Determinations for Petroleum Assessment and Cleanup Grants
• Tips for Applicants

Grant Basics

Who is eligible for federal brownfield grants?

• Local governments, regional councils, redevelopment agencies, tribes, coalitions of eligible organizations and other government entities. Federal cleanup grants are also available to non-profit organizations.
• The applicant must not have caused the contamination.

What is eligible?

• There are three types of brownfield grants: assessment, environmental cleanup and revolving loan funds (please see the table below).
• Grants can be used at properties that meet the federal definition of a brownfield: "real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant". The contaminated area can not be a Superfund site.
• Most properties with petroleum contamination are eligible.

When are applications due?

• EPA establishes annual deadlines, usually in fall or winter.

How much funding is available?

• EPA usually has about $80 million nation-wide and awards about 300 grants.

What is the cost share?

• There is no cost share for assessment grants. There is a 20 percent cost share for revolving loan fund (RLF) and cleanup grants. This may be a contribution of money, labor, material, or services.

Where can I get more information?

• Example Application
• See EPA's Brownfield Grants & Funding web page [exit DNR]
• List of EPA Brownfield Grant Recipients in Wisconsin [PDF, 32KB]
• EPA Powerpoint Presentation for Applicants [exit DNR]
• Technical Assistance for Brownfields (TAB) - offers free help from Kansas State University for 10 states

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Contacts

• Joe Dufficy, EPA Region 5, 312.886.1960
• Laurie Egre, DNR, 608.267.7560
• Darsi Foss, DNR Brownfields Section Chief, 608.267.6713

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EPA Brownfield Grant Summary Chart

For more information about revolving loan funds, please see: http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/rlflst.htm [exit DNR]

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Obtaining Your State Letter of Support

Request your state letter of support from DNR by contacting Laurie Egre (608.267.7560). Please make your request at least two weeks prior to EPA’s application deadline. If you are applying for more than one grant, you may use one letter of support that covers all of your applications, but be sure to attach a copy of this letter to each grant application. Please provide the following information to Laurie:

• Type of grant(s) being applied for [assessment, revolving loan fund (RLF), or cleanup];
• The name and mailing address of the person to whom the letter should be addressed (this should be the relevant municipal official);
• A general description of brownfield areas, community concerns and redevelopment needs. Or, for site-specific assessment grants and for cleanup grants, provide the property address, a brief history of ownership, a brief history of land use, and why the property is suspected of being contaminated (assessment grant), or known to be contaminated (cleanup grant). Include the Bureau for Remediation and Redevelopment Tracking System (BRRTS) identification number(s) if a contaminated property is already known to DNR; and
• For petroleum contamination cleanup grants, or for site-specific petroleum assessment grants, also specify:
• The current property owner, occupant, and the immediate past owner of the property,
• The time and method by which the current owner acquired the property (e.g. purchase, tax foreclosure, etc.),
• Whether the applicant, or the current or immediate past owner, dispensed or disposed of petroleum on the property, and took reasonable steps to contain any known contamination,
• Whether there are any state or federal environmental judgments or orders, or third party suits or claims brought against the current or immediate past owner, and whether the current or immediate past owner has the financial means to comply, and
• Reasons why any of the above information may not be available.
• Send your letter of request to the DNR:
• By Mail:
  Laurie Egre, RR/5
  DNR
  PO Box 7921
  Madison, WI 53707
• By eMail: Laurie Egre

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Obtaining Site-Specific Eligibility Determinations for Petroleum Assessment and Cleanup Grants

If you are applying for a Petroleum Cleanup Grant, or have been awarded a Petroleum Assessment Grant, you will need approval to use those funds for each property. EPA has delegated these determinations to the states. To obtain approval to assess a Wisconsin property for petroleum contamination using an EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant, or if you are applying for a Petroleum Cleanup Grant, please send the following information by email to Laurie Egre.

1. Address and approximate size of the property.
2. Ownership:
• The current owner.
• The immediate past owner.
• The date and method of legal transfer of the property from the immediate past owner to the current owner.
3. What is the history of property use?
4. Provide a summary of known or suspected contamination (generally associated with the site history)
5. How does the property meet the federal definition of a brownfield? (...real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant)
6. Has the grant recipient caused or contributed to contamination?
7. Is the applicant aware of any outstanding requirements under the federal Oil Pollution Act?
8. If petroleum contamination is discovered or confirmed, would there be any viable responsible parties? Specifically, is there:
• A judgment in a court of law or an administrative order that would require any party to assess, investigate, or clean up the site?
• An enforcement action by federal or state authorities that would require any party to assess, investigate, or clean up the site?
• A known citizen suit, contribution action or other third party claim against current or immediate past owners that would, if successful, require assessment, investigation or clean up the site?

If you send this information by mail, please address it to:

• Laurie Egre - RR/8
  DNR
  PO Box 7921
  Madison, WI 53707

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Tips for Applicants

Disclaimer: These tips are Wisconsin DNR interpretations of the federal guidelines. See the federal guidelines for complete application requirements.

1. Decide what you need and what you can administer

Determine which of the three types of federal grants you will apply for. Revolving loan funds (RLFs) are fairly complex and present a lot of administrative work for small communities. Decide whether your application will be for petroleum, hazardous substances, or both (EPA must award 25% of its funding for petroleum). Cleanup grants must be site specific; RLF grants may not be site-specific, and assessment grants may be either.

2. Your application

Postmark your application by the deadline, or submit it electronically through http://www.grants.gov/ [exit DNR]. EPA does not accept faxed submittals. Submit a complete, separate application for each grant and prepare a separate cover letter for each. Applications should be concise, organized in the format provided by EPA, and conform to EPA’s page limits, font sizes, etc. Remember that EPA’s threshold criteria are pass-fail questions.

3. Your community notification plan

For cleanup grants, you must create a community notification plan and accept public comments as part of your grant application. For assessment and revolving loan funds, community notification may start after a grant is awarded. You may start to implement your plan immediately; making the community aware of your plans, or you may wait until EPA notifies you that you will receive a grant. If you wait, you must start to implement your plan as soon as EPA tells you that you will receive a grant, before you have signed a cooperative agreement. The work plan that you will provide to EPA in order to obtain your cooperative agreement must describe the actions that you have already taken to implement your community notification plan, including your responses to public comments.

4. Revolving Loan Fund Applications (RLF)

For revolving loan fund applications, you must include a legal opinion from your counsel which covers your authority to access and secure sites.

Tip: Applicants for RLFs may require sub-grantees and loan applicants to pay DNR technical review fees in order to help ensure that their cleanup plans and actions will be appropriate.

Tip: The “Cleanup Authority & Oversight Structure” section may be addressed by referring to DNR’s regulatory authority to approve environmental investigations and cleanups under s. 292, Wis. Stats. and the NR 700 series of administrative rules. Applicants with environmental consultants may also refer to their standard operating procedures and quality assurance plans.

5. Getting help

EPA will respond to questions about their threshold criteria for eligibility, including the sometimes-problematic timing of property ownership. Wisconsin applicants should contact Deborah Orr at: EPA, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604-3507; phone 312.886.7576; fax 312.886.7190.

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If you have questions about this page, contact:

Laurie Egre
608.267.7560