Brownfields Assessment Grants

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. The Assessment Grants program is a competitive program that provides funding for a grant recipient to inventory, characterize, assess, conduct a range of planning activities, develop site-specific cleanup plans, and conduct community engagement related to brownfield sites.

Eligible Uses
Applicants can apply for one of three types of assessment grants: Community-Wide Grants, Assessment Coalition Grants, or Community-Wide Assessment Grants for States and Tribes.

• A Community-Wide Grant is a 4-year grant and is most appropriate for communities beginning to address brownfields in their neighborhoods; these grants are capped at $500,000. 
• Assessment Coalition Grants, which comprise one state entity as lead member with 2-4 partners, are eligible for up to $1 million per applicant for a 4-year grant period. 
• Community-wide Assessment Grants for States and Tribes, which have a 5-year grant period, should work in disadvantaged communities, particularly those that do not have the capacity to manage a brownfields grant. Successful applicants may receive up to $2 million and must assess a minimum of 10 brownfield sites. 
  Eligible uses for all three types of assessment grants include:
  • Site assessment (determining if a hazardous substances is present)
  • Community engagement and various planning activities (e.g., clean up planning)

Recipients may use a portion of the Assessment Grant for eligible participant support costs, which can include stipends to compensate an individual’s time and travel costs for participating in project-related meetings and related community engagement efforts.