The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced $9,806,874 in grant awards from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to expedite the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites in Oregon while advancing environmental justice. This announcement was made on May 20, 2024, with the EPA selecting six communities in Oregon to receive EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup Grant programs.
These investments will help transform once-polluted, vacant, and abandoned properties into community assets while creating jobs and stimulating economic revitalization in overburdened communities.
President Joe Biden commented on the harmful economic and health consequences of living near polluted brownfield sites. He stated that under his administration, historic resources from his Investing in America agenda are reaching communities that need it most.
EPA Region 10 Administrator Casey Sixkiller emphasized the significant positive outcomes for neighborhoods and businesses that can be achieved with Brownfields MAC funding. Senator Ron Wyden expressed satisfaction at Oregon securing these federal resources and pledged to continue securing additional federal funds that support Oregon's economy and quality of life.
Senator Jeff Merkley highlighted how redeveloping brownfield sites gives local economies a boost, protects public health, and helps revitalize communities. Congresswoman Val Hoyle stressed the importance of the Brownfields Cleanup Grant program in helping communities clean up contaminated sites and bring them back to life as vibrant spaces for people to live, work and play.
The grants are part of a larger initiative by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which provided a $1.5 billion boost to EPA’s Brownfields Program. The program aims to address economic, social, and environmental challenges caused by brownfields while stimulating economic opportunity and environmental revitalization in historically overburdened communities.
Several organizations in Oregon have been selected to receive EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup Grant Programs including The City of Sherwood, The City of Eugene, Oregon Metro, North Wasco County School District #21, Port of Arlington Environmental Sentry Corp, and The City of The Dalles.
The EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.7 billion in Brownfield 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 President Biden’s historic investments in America through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA has now increased that yearly investment nearly 400 percent.
