Assessment Grants provide funding for a grant recipient to inventory, characterize, assess, conduct a range of planning activities, develop site-specific cleanup plans, and conduct community involvement related to brownfield sites. The performance period for these grants is three years.
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Three types of assessment grants are offered:
Community-wide Assessment Grants are appropriate when a specific site is not identified and the applicant plans to spend grant funds on more than one brownfield site in its community. An applicant may request up to $500,000 (FY22 Policy Change).
Site-specific Assessment Grants are appropriate when a specific site is identified and the applicant plans to spend grant funds on this one site only. An applicant may request up to $200,000 or may seek a waiver and request up to $350,000.
Assessment Coalition Grants are appropriate when three or more eligible entities plan to perform Assessment Grant activities on at least five brownfield sites within their communities. (won’t be issued for FY22).
Eligible uses of funding: Direct costs associated with the inventory, site prioritization, community involvement, site reuse planning, assessment, and cleanup planning. Direct costs associated with programmatic management, purchasing of environmental insurance, and up to 10% of the budget for health monitoring of populations exposed to hazardous substances from a brownfield site.
Checklist for Assessment Grants
RFP Release: Annually, Fall
Example Proposals: KSU TAB Resources (under Categories, select Successful Grant Proposals)
EPA Assessment Grants in R1 Success Stories: Goodwin College, CT; Sanford Mill Site, ME; Hope Rubber Factory, MA; Monadnock Mills, NH; Olneyville/Narragansett Landing, RI; Waterfront Apartments, VT
EPA Region 1 Targeted Brownfields Assessments (TBAs)
TBAs are conducted by an EPA contractor on behalf of an eligible entity. Services are for an average of $100,000 and include site assessments, cleanup options and cost estimates, and community outreach.
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Activities include:
- An ASTM Phase I, which includes a background and historical investigation and site inspection
- A full site assessment, including sampling activities to identify types and concentrations of contaminants and the areas of contamination that must be cleaned up; and
- The determination of how much more investigation is needed and/or the establishment of cleanup options and cost estimates based on future uses and redevelopment plans.
Eligible Entities: Public entities and non-profits partnered with public entities
RFP Release: No RFP, the sites are selected locally, once a year.
TABs in R1 Success Stories: Occum Park, CT; Lily-Tulip Factory, ME; Boston’s Hope Project, MA; Enterprise Regional Distribution Center, NH; OpenDoors, RI
EPA Multipurpose Grants
Multipurpose Grants provide funding to carry out a range of eligible assessment and cleanup activities with a proposed target area, such as a neighborhood, a number of neighboring towns, a district, a corridor, a shared planning area or a census tract. The target area may not include communities that are located in distinctly different geographic areas. An applicant can apply for up to $800,000 and should demonstrate how grant funds will result in at least one Phase II environmental site assessment; one brownfield site cleanup; and an overall plan for revitalization of one or more brownfield sites, if there is not already a plan in place.
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Eligible uses of funding: Direct costs associated with inventories of brownfield sites, site prioritization, community involvement activities, environmental site assessments cleanup plans and reuse plans related to brownfield sites, cleanup activities on brownfield sites owned by the applicant, and overall plan for revitalization. Direct costs associated with programmatic management, purchasing of environmental insurance, and up 10% of the budget for health monitoring of populations exposed to hazardous substances from a brownfield site.
Checklist for Multipurpose Grants
RFP Release: Every other year (won’t be issued in FY22)
Example Proposals: KSU TAB Resources (under Categories, select Successful Grant Proposals)