Contact: Meshach A. Padilla, 206-553-2762, padilla.meshach@epa.gov
Seattle (May 10, 2022) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is announcing a $5.4 million investment of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds to cleanup and revitalize three communities in Washington. 

“With today’s announcement, we’re turning blight into might for communities across America,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “EPA’s Brownfields Program breathes new life into communities by helping to turn contaminated and potentially dangerous sites into productive economic contributors. Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are significantly ramping up our investments in communities, with the bulk of our funding going to places that have been overburdened and underserved for far too long.”

The following communities received grants awards from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help turn brownfield sites across Washington into hubs of economic growth and job creation:

• $500,000 to the City of Olympia for a Brownfields Assessment Grant. Funding will be used to inventory Brownfield sites, conduct environmental site assessments, and develop cleanup plans. Potential sites include a former lumber mill, an area used for industrial boat services, and a vacant auto repair site.
• $500,000 to the Port of Tacoma for a Brownfields Assessment Grant. Grant funds will be used to perform environmental site assessments and develop reuse plans. Possible sites include a former fuel storage and distribution site, the port’s 244-acre Central Peninsula site, and a 70-acre cluster of vacant and underutilized properties.
• $500,000 to the City of Spokane for a Brownfields Assessment Grant. This grant will fund environmental site assessments and develop potential reuse plans for a former rail yard, a lumber yard, older residences, a nursing home, a vacant tire shop, and a gas station.
• $3,900,000 to the Washington State Department of Commerce as supplemental funding for an existing Revolving Loan Fund grant to pay for additional Brownfield site cleanups. This funding will help the recipient to continue success in their work to cleanup and redevelop brownfield sites.

The Brownfields Program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, ensuring that at least 40% of benefits from federal investments in climate and clean energy flow to disadvantaged communities. Approximately 86% of the communities selected to receive funding have proposed projects in historically underserved areas.

Communities will begin to address the economic, social, and environmental challenges caused by brownfields by stimulating economic opportunity and environmental revitalization in overburdened communities. Projects can range from cleaning up buildings with asbestos or lead contamination to assessing and cleaning up abandoned properties that once managed dangerous chemicals.

Find more information on the full list of the 2022 Brownfield Grant applicants selected for funding.

Background

A brownfield is a property for which the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Redevelopment includes everything from grocery stores and affordable housing to health centers, museums, greenways, and solar farms.   

The next National Brownfields Training Conference will be held on August 16-19, 2022 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 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). Conference registration is open at www.brownfields2022.org.

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

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