WASHINGTON, DC, July 19, 2013 -- Across the nation, there are several brownfield sites, unused industrial land, that are being considered for reuse. On July 15, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced approximately $15 million in supplemental funding to help clean up contaminated brownfields properties. Further, the Revolving Loan Funding (RLF) will help 41 communities carry out cleanup and redevelopment projects that will help communities create jobs while protecting public health and the environment.
"These funds -- granted to communities who have already achieved success in their work to clean up and redevelop brownfields -- will help boost local economies, create local jobs and protect people from harmful pollution by expediting brownfield projects," said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "The RLF supplemental recipients are some of the nation's top performers. Collectively, these communities have already leveraged more than $2.5 billion in clean-up and redevelopment investment -- the RLF funding announced today will help sustain that incredible progress."
Revolving loan funds specifically supply funding for grant recipients to provide loans and sub-grants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites. When these loans are repaid, the loan amount is then returned to the fund and subgranted or re-loaned to other borrowers, providing an ongoing source of capital within a community for additional cleanup of brownfield sites. The supplemental grants range in funding from about $200,000 to $400,000 with an average grant award of $300,000.
There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated sites in the United States. EPA's brownfields program targets these sites to encourage redevelopment, and help to provide the opportunity for productive community use of contaminated properties. The investments overall have leveraged more than $20 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding from public and private sources and on average, $17.79 is leveraged for every EPA brownfields grant dollar spent.
The funds have enabled the support of 90,000 jobs in cleanup, construction and redevelopment.
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