LOUISVILLE, KY (July 31, 2023) –Today, officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joined Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Goodman and Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg at a press event in Louisville to discuss the $7.9 million investment through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to expedite the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites in Kentucky while advancing environmental justice.
EPA selected ten communities in Kentucky to receive grants totaling more than $7,999,560 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.
“This investment in EPA’s Brownfields Program will transform countless lives and spur life-changing revitalization in communities large and small, urban, and rural,” said Acting EPA Region 4 Administrator, Jeaneanne Gettle. “All with the same desire to keep their neighborhoods healthy, sustainable and reflective of the people who call it home.”
“We appreciate this partnership with the EPA that has provided this funding for communities to reimagine and eventually reuse properties in a way that will bring about jobs and healthier neighborhoods,” said Secretary Rebecca Goodman.
“This funding from EPA will help us further the brownfield remediation work that’s going on throughout our city, work that is critical to our efforts to provide additional affordable housing options for the people of Louisville,” said Mayor Craig Greenberg. “Partnerships between federal, state, and local governments are so important to address these urgent challenges and improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods.”
Additional Background:
EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.37 billion in Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. EPA’s investments in addressing brownfield sites have leveraged more than $36 billion in cleanup and redevelopment. Over the years, the relatively small investment of federal funding has leveraged, from both public and private sources, nearly 260,000 jobs. Communities that previously received Brownfields Grants used these resources to fund assessments and cleanups of brownfields, and successfully leverage an average of 10.6 jobs per $100,000 of EPA Brownfield Grant funds spent and $19.78 for every dollar.
The next National Brownfields Training Conference will be held on August 8-11, 2023, in Detroit, Michigan. 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).
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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