The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $2 million in grant awards aimed at expediting the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites in Virginia, as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. This initiative is funded by a $1.5 billion investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, intended to address legacy pollution, advance environmental justice, and create healthier communities.
EPA selected two communities in Virginia to receive funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grant programs. These grants aim to transform polluted, vacant, and abandoned properties into community assets while creating jobs and spurring economic revitalization in overburdened areas.
“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.”
“Today’s announcement invests more than $26 million across the mid-Atlantic to support the revitalization of brownfields,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “This funding will help assess and clean up contamination, create jobs by returning idle properties to productive reuse, and continue our progress toward a healthy and safe environment for all Americans.”
Communities under economic stress often lack resources needed for brownfield cleanup and redevelopment projects. Transforming these sites into community assets can attract jobs, promote economic revitalization, and transform areas into sustainable places.
The historic $1.5 billion boost from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law enables EPA’s Brownfields Program to assist more communities in addressing economic, social, and environmental challenges posed by brownfields.
EPA’s Brownfields Program supports President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative which aims for 40% of certain Federal investments' benefits to flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. Approximately 86% of MAC and RLF Supplemental program applications selected for funding proposed work in disadvantaged areas.
Dublin, Virginia has been awarded $1 million for environmental site assessments and remediation activities at priority sites within Dublin Industrial Park. Dumfries, Virginia will also receive $1 million for similar activities including cleanup at specific locations.
Since its inception in 1995, EPA’s Brownfields Program has provided nearly $2.7 billion in grants for assessing and cleaning up contaminated properties. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has increased yearly investment from approximately $60 million to nearly $160 million per year.
For more information on the Brownfields Program visit the EPA website.
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