The Brownfields Program is designed to empower states, tribes, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfield properties, like preserving them as greenspace. Brownfields Cleanup Grants provide funding for up to four years for cleanup activities at brownfield sites.

Eligible Uses

Funding is used for cleanup activities at brownfields sites for up to $500,000 for one or more sites.

Eligible Recipients

State, local, and tribal governments are all eligible recipients as well as non-profit organizations. Nonprofit organizations that conduct political lobbying, like 501(c)(4) registered nonprofits, are not eligible for EPA funding.

Approx Annual Funding Amount

This varies year by year, but the program is typically funded around $60 million. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invested an additional $160 million into the Cleanup Grant.

Cost Share Requirements

There is a 20% non-federal cost share requirement, though this has been waived for FY2023 with BIL funding. 

Application Cycle

Application solicitations are typically released in September with applications due in December.

Contact

Regional contacts

Other Info

  • This program is covered under the Justice40 Initiative.
  • A brownfield is a property that may contain a pollutant, hazardous substance, or contaminant, which creates a barrier to redeveloping that property. 
  • An applicant must own the site for which it is requesting funding. 
  • If a site has previously received Brownfields Cleanup Grant funding, then it is not eligible for additional Cleanup funding.
  • As of FY23, there is an additional requirement for Cleanup Grant applicants to demonstrate that the proposed site(s) has been sufficiently characterized for the cleanup to begin. See website for more details.