FY24 GUIDELINES FOR BROWNFIELD ASSESSMENT GRANTS (COMMUNITY-WIDE ASSESSMENT GRANTS FOR STATES AND TRIBES) | EPA I OLEM OBLR 23 14

Opportunity Information: Apply for EPA I OLEM OBLR 23 14

The FY24 Guidelines for Brownfield Assessment Grants (Community-Wide Assessment Grants for States and Tribes) is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding opportunity designed to help states and Tribal Nations take a broader, community-level approach to identifying and evaluating brownfield sites. Brownfields are generally properties where redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by actual or perceived contamination. This opportunity supports early-phase work that communities need before cleanup and redevelopment can realistically move forward, such as building inventories of sites, conducting environmental assessments, and gathering the information needed to plan for cleanup and reuse.

The legal authority behind the program comes from the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), specifically Section 104(k), which was added through the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002. That amendment created and clarified federal financial assistance tools for brownfields revitalization, including assessment grants, cleanup grants, and revolving loan fund grants. The opportunity also reflects later updates made through the Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act of 2018, which reauthorized EPAs Brownfields Program and introduced additional amendments affecting EPAs grant authorities as well as ownership and liability provisions that can matter when communities are trying to move stalled or underused properties back into productive use.

In practical terms, the EPA Brownfields Program uses these funds to empower states, Tribal Nations, communities, and eligible nonprofit organizations to prevent, inventory, assess, clean up, and reuse brownfield sites. This specific guidance focuses on how to apply for Community-Wide Assessment Grants tailored to states and tribes, meaning the funding is meant to be used across a jurisdiction or community rather than being limited to a single, individual site. The aim is to support systematic assessment work that can unlock multiple properties for future cleanup and redevelopment, improve community planning, and reduce barriers to investment in areas where contamination concerns have slowed progress.

The funding for this FY24 round is provided through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Public Law 117-58). That matters because IIJA significantly increased federal investment in infrastructure and related environmental remediation priorities, including brownfields, which can help communities accelerate revitalization efforts and coordinate environmental assessment work with broader infrastructure and redevelopment plans.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary grant opportunity offered by the EPA under Funding Opportunity Number EPA I OLEM OBLR 23 14. Awards are issued as cooperative agreements, which typically means there is substantial EPA involvement during the project period compared with a standard grant, such as coordination, technical input, or oversight consistent with program requirements. The assistance listing (CFDA/Assistance Listing) number associated with the program is 66.818. The opportunity anticipated about 25 awards, with an award ceiling of up to 2,000,000 dollars per award. The original application closing date listed for this opportunity was November 13, 2023, and the posting indicates it was created on September 21, 2023.

Eligibility is indicated broadly in the notice as "Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification)," but the title and description make clear the primary target applicants are states and Tribal Nations seeking community-wide assessment funding. Overall, the opportunity is structured to help recipients generate the environmental data and planning foundation needed to move from suspected or uncertain contamination toward informed decisions about cleanup options, risk management, and eventual reuse, with the larger goal of returning underused properties to productive community benefit.

• The Environmental Protection Agency in the environment, infrastructure investment and jobs act (iija) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY24 GUIDELINES FOR BROWNFIELD ASSESSMENT GRANTS (COMMUNITY-WIDE ASSESSMENT GRANTS FOR STATES AND TRIBES)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 66.818.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 21, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 13, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 25 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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