May 13, 2005—Communities in 44 states will share more than $75 million in US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) brownfields grants to help revitalize former industrial and commercial sites, transforming them from problem properties into community assets. Assessment grants, cleanup grants, revolving loan fund grants, and job-training grants were awarded.
EPA selected 218 applicants, including three tribal nations, to receive 302 grants totaling $75.9 million. In addition to the grants, participants in the brownfields program gain access to the expertise and other resources from more than 20 federal agencies. EPA notes that more than 60 percent of the people completing brownfields training programs have landed jobs in the environmental field.
The Brownfields Program promotes redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites. In addition to promoting industrial and commercial redevelopment, brownfields projects have converted industrial waterfronts to riverfront parks, landfills to golf courses, rail corridors to recreational trails, and gas station sites to housing.
