EPA to Award over $1.6 Million to Address Contaminated Sites in Puerto Rico

Funding Includes First-Ever Brownfields-Specific Funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

Contact Information:  John Senn, 212-637-3662, senn.john@epa.gov

Brenda Reyes, 787-977-5869, reyes.brenda@epa.gov

SAN JUAN, P.R. (May 17, 2022) – The Biden Administration through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that it is awarding $254.5 million in Brownfields Grants to 265 communities, including four grants totaling $1,600,400 across Puerto Rico. These grants are supported by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides a total of $1.5 billion to advance environmental justice, spur economic revitalization, and create jobs by cleaning up contaminated, polluted, or hazardous brownfield properties. 

Brownfield projects can range from cleaning up buildings with asbestos or lead contamination, to assessing and cleaning up abandoned properties that once managed dangerous chemicals. Once cleaned up, former brownfield properties can be redeveloped into productive uses such as grocery stores, affordable housing, health centers, museums, parks, and solar farms.

The Brownfields Program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to deliver at least 40 percent of the benefits of certain government programs to disadvantaged communities. Approximately 86 percent of the communities selected to receive funding as part of today’s announcement have proposed projects in historically underserved areas.

“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 brownfields program is a powerful tool that helps overburdened communities in Puerto Rico address local inequities by providing a means to revitalize properties and promote environmental health, economic growth, and job creation,” said EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “The Brownfields program transforms communities, and BIL gives the program a huge shot in the arm – with a historic $1.5 billion dollars that will be leveraged to make a real and lasting on-the-ground difference for communities across the country.”

EPA’s Brownfields grants and other technical assistance programs like the RE-Powering America’s Land Initiative are also helping to build the clean energy economy. This announcement includes a former coal mine in Greene County, Pennsylvania, that will become a 10-megawatt solar farm, and a former dump site in the Fort Belknap Indian Community in Montana that will be converted to a solar farm, saving local residents an estimated $2.8 million in energy costs over 25 years, among many others.

This announcement includes approximately $180 million from the historic $1.5 billion investment from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help turn brownfield sites across the nation into hubs of economic growth and job creation, along with more than $75 million from Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations.  

The funding includes:

• $112.8 million for 183 selectees for Assessment Grants, which will provide funding for brownfield inventories, planning, environmental assessments, and community outreach.
• $18.2 million for 36 selectees for Cleanup Grants, which will provide funding to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites owned by the recipient.
• $16.3 million for 17 selectees for Revolving Loan Fund grants that will provide funding for recipients to offer loans and subgrants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites.
• $107 million for 39 high-performing Revolving Loan Fund Grant recipients to help communities continue their work to carry out cleanup and redevelopment projects on contaminated brownfield properties. Supplemental funding for Revolving Loan Fund Grants is available to recipients that have depleted their funds and have viable cleanup projects ready for work. 

Communities selected for funding in Puerto Rico are:

• Municipality of Aguas Buenas, Site Assessment Grant of $400,100
• Municipality of Aibonito, Site Assessment Grant of $400,100
• Municipality of Corozal, Site Assessment Grant of $400,100
• Municipality of Las Piedras, Site Assessment Grant of $400,100

The national list of the applicants selected for funding is available here: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicants-selected-fy-2022-brownfields-assessment-rlf-cleanup-arc-grants-and-rlf

Since its inception in 1995, EPA’s investments in brownfield sites have leveraged more than $35 billion in cleanup and redevelopment. This has led to significant benefits for communities across the country. For example:

• To date, this funding has led to more than 183,000 jobs in cleanup, construction, and redevelopment and more than 9,500 properties have been made ready for reuse.
• Based on grant recipient reporting, recipients leveraged on average $20.43 for each EPA Brownfields dollar and 10.3 jobs per $100,000 of EPA Brownfields Grant funds expended on assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund cooperative agreements.
• In addition, an academic peer-reviewed study has found that residential properties near brownfield sites increased in value by 5% to 15% as a result of cleanup activities.
• Finally, analyzing data near 48 brownfields, EPA found an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional tax revenue for local governments in a single year after cleanup—2 to 7 times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of those brownfields sites.

“The EPA Brownfields program is of great value in places like Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, where our development in the twentieth century involved a rapid industrialization, much of it happening before the establishment of our current environmental protection standards. Today, four communities in Puerto Rico are awarded funds through this important program to support clean-up efforts. I congratulate the awardees, urge other municipalities to learn and participate, and reiterate my commitment to support and my continued wish for success for EPA and the communities in this joint effort,” said Rep. Jenniffer González-Colón.

Aguas Buenas acting Mayor Mayra Dias Camacho said: “Having applied for the Brownfields program grant funds from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, we are extremely appreciative of the news of the award of funds under the requested grant. It is extremely important for us since we will be carrying out a work plan for the development of the program in the autonomous municipality of Aguas Buenas. This will be a great opportunity for the environmental and economic development of the municipality”

Aibonito Mayor William Alicea Pérez said: “We are happy to have obtained this grant. With these funds we will carry out Phase I and Phase II environmental studies on contaminated properties in Aibonito, with the EPA providing this initial investment necessary for the reuse and redevelopment of the properties. This grant will help better inform us about environmental conditions in brownfields and help reduce risk of exposure, eliminate sources of contamination, improve community ecological health, and incorporate principles of livability and equitable development. One of the properties that we plan to impact is the Old Preventorio, which is located in the urban area and has been in disuse for years. We are sure that we will maximize the allocated funds to promote the economic development of this and other properties.”

Jorge A. Martinez, Director Federal Programs for Corozal, said: “For the residents of Corozal it is a unique opportunity, and we are very grateful to be part of this program for the first time. We are happy and willing to work in the right way since we have several plans for the benefit of the development of our people.”

Marianito Ruiz, Director of Planning for Las Piedras, said: “The municipality of Las Piedras has received approval of the proposal we submitted to serve several brownfields. Today we celebrate with great satisfaction and pride that we can receive these funds that benefit the citizen of Las Piedras.”

Additional 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 made possible through the program 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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