LENEXA, KAN. (MAY 20, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $500,000 in grant awards from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to expedite the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites in Nebraska, while advancing environmental justice.
These investments through EPA’s Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grant programs and Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grant programs will help transform once-polluted, vacant, and abandoned properties into community assets, while helping to create good jobs and spur economic revitalization in overburdened communities.
EPA selected Schuyler Community Development in Nebraska to receive $500,000 in competitive EPA Brownfields funding through MAC Grant programs.
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan will announce the awards in Philadelphia today, alongside Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and U.S. Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) at a local brownfield side near Bartram’s Mile.
For over 60 years, the site was used as an oil terminal, filled with storage tanks full of petroleum and other semi-volatile organic compounds. The City of Philadelphia has been working to reclaim brownfield sites along Bartram’s Mile, turning them into a community hub where residents can access trails for hiking and biking, as well as areas for fishing, gardening, farming, and more.
“Far too many communities across America have suffered the harmful economic and health consequences of living near polluted brownfield sites,” said President Joe Biden. “I’ve long believed that people who’ve borne the burden of pollution should be the first to see the benefits of new investment. Under my Administration, we are making that a reality by ensuring the historic resources from my Investing in America Agenda reach communities that need it most. I am proud that my Administration is helping Philadelphia clean up and transform this area into an economic engine, while tackling a longstanding environmental injustice and creating good-paying jobs.”
“President Biden sees contaminated sites and blighted areas as an opportunity to invest in healthier, revitalized communities,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “That’s why he secured historic funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, supercharging EPA’s Brownfields program to clean up contaminated properties in overburdened communities and bring them back into productive use.”
“EPA Region 7 is proud to deliver these Brownfields funding resources to our partner organizations across Nebraska,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meghan A. McCollister. “The Brownfields program is truly a win-win for everyone involved, and we are proud of our partners’ efforts to provide a cleaner and healthier environment for all, while at the same time spurring local economic development.”
“With the help of the City of Schuyler and stakeholders, including the Schuyler Area Chamber of Commerce, Center for Rural Affairs, CHI Health-Schuyler, and local business in Schuyler’s Downtown Historic District, SCD greatly appreciates the opportunity to utilize EPA Brownfields funding to help assess and revitalize our historic downtown and other areas of town that have lacked sufficient resources in the past,” said Schuyler Community Development Housing Specialist Brian Bywater. “Revitalization and redevelopment of the Downtown Historic District and the broader community through a strategic Brownfield Program will bring investment, jobs, beautification and, most importantly, a greater opportunity for Schuyler’s residents.”
“Congratulations to Schuyler on winning a Brownfields Assessment Grant to improve the downtown historic district!” said Nebraska Department of Economic Development Director K.C. Belitz. “Nebraskans care deeply for our communities, and Schuyler’s revitalization efforts are a great example of this civic pride. Thank you to the EPA for investing in the health and well-being of our state!”
Many communities that are under economic stress, particularly those in areas that have experienced long periods of disinvestment, lack the resources needed to initiate brownfield cleanup and redevelopment projects. As brownfield sites are transformed into community assets, they attract jobs, promote economic revitalization, and transform communities into sustainable and environmentally just places.
Thanks to the historic $1.5 billion boost from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA’s Brownfields program is helping more communities than ever before begin to address the economic, social, and environmental challenges caused by brownfields and stimulate economic opportunity and environmental revitalization in historically overburdened communities.
EPA’s Brownfields program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. The Brownfields program strives to meet this commitment and advance environmental justice and equity considerations in all aspects of its work. Approximately 86% of the MAC and RLF Supplemental program applications selected to receive funding proposed to work in areas that include disadvantaged communities.
State Funding Breakdown
Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grant Programs’ Selections
The following organization in Nebraska has been selected to receive EPA Brownfields funding through the MAC Grant programs:
- Schuyler Community Development has been selected to receive $500,000. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct 18 Phase I and eight Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to identify and prioritize additional sites; develop four cleanup plans; conduct three visioning sessions; prepare three site reuse assessments and one revitalization plan; and perform community engagement activities. The target area for this grant is the City of Schuyler Downtown Historic District. Priority sites include a former hotel, a former municipal power plant, and a former grain elevator.
To see the list of the FY 2024 Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup applicants selected for funding, visit EPA’s FY 2024 Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup Applicants page.
Additional Background
EPA has selected these organizations to receive funding to address and support the reuse of brownfield sites to address the health, economic, social, and environmental challenges caused by brownfields. EPA anticipates making all the awards announced today, once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied.
EPA’s Brownfields program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.7 billion in Brownfields Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. Prior to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this program made approximately $60 million available each year. Thanks to the President’s historic investments in America through this law, EPA has now increased that yearly investment nearly 400%. More than half of the funding available for this grant cycle (approximately $160 million) comes from the historic $1.5 billion investment from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This investment has also allowed the MAC grants’ maximum award amounts to increase significantly from $500,000 to a new maximum of $5 million per award.
- View the lists of the FY 2024 MAC applicants selected for funding and the RLF Supplemental funding recipients.
- Learn more about the RLF Technical Assistance grant recipients.
- Learn more about EPA’s Brownfields program.
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