Contact Information

Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization

(202) 566-2777

Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

(202) 564-2440

Superfund Redevelopment Program

(703) 603-8864

Office of Underground Storage Tanks

(703) 603-7164

Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office

(703) 603-0048

RCRA Brownfields Initiative

(703) 308-8399

Additional EPA Land Revitalization Contacts:

www.epa.gov/landrevitalization/contactus.htm

EPA’s 

Brownfields and Land 

Revitalization Programs: 10 

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Brownfields/Land Revitalization Solid Waste EPA-560-F-09-519

General Brochure and Emergency October 2009

Response (5105T) www.epa.gov/brownfields

EPA Regions

The Gateway Park redevelopment project in Worcester, Massachusetts, 

creating more than 1.5 million square feet of commercial space.

Changing American Land and Lives

Brownfields and Land Revitalization Highlights 

(selected project examples)

•	 Gardena, California

A Brownfields Assessment grant helped to leverage more than 

$29 million in redevelopment funding, giving Gardena a new 

economic outlook.

www.epa.gov/brownfields/success/gardena_ca.pdf

•	 Houston, Texas

A Brownfields Cleanup grant helped to turn an abandoned 

hospital facility into modern, loft-style apartments.

www.epa.gov/brownfields/success/houston_tx_BRAG.pdf

•	 Boston, Massachusetts 

A Brownfields Job Training grant prepared un- and 

under-employed residents of suburban Boston for 

environmental careers.

www.epa.gov/brownfields/success/jfy_boston.pdf

•	 Maryland / District of Columbia

A project under EPA’s Urban Rivers Restoration Initiative, 

the Anacostia River Watershed Restoration Pilot promotes 

pollution reductions, ecological restoration, and public stewardship 

of Maryland’s Anacostia watershed.

www.epa.gov/landrevitalization/urbanrivers/

•	 Additional Project Highlights

www.epa.gov/brownfields/success/success.htm

•	 More Information on Individual Brownfields Grant Types

www.epa.gov/brownfields/pilot.htm

Links for Additional Information

EPA’s Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization: 

www.epa.gov/brownfields/

Brownfields Grant Application Information:

www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicat.htm

Grants and Funding Opportunities Under Other EPA 

Cleanup Programs:

www.epa.gov/brownfields/mmatters.htm

www.epa.gov/oswer/grants-funding.htm
contaminated by petroleum and 

hazardous substances, pollutants, or 

other contaminants.

Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grants

Funding to establish revolving loan 

funds to make loans and subgrants 

to clean up brownfields. An eligible 

entity may apply for up to $1 million 

or coalitions of eligible entities may 

apply together for up to $1 million per 

entity. The fund “revolves” by lending to 

public and private borrowers in order to 

finance environmental cleanup activities 

at brownfields, and then using loan 

repayments to provide new loans.

Job Training

Funding to establish environmental 

cleanup and health and safety training 

programs for residents of brownfieldsaffected communities who are seeking 

new skills and career opportunities. 

An eligible entity may apply for up to 

$200,000 to develop training programs 

that help clean up brownfields, spur 

economic development, and produce 

highly qualified environmental 

technicians.

Technical Assistance

Funding to agencies and organizations 

for innovative training, research, and 

technical assistance projects that 

support brownfields revitalization.

State and Tribal Response Programs

Financial assistance to states and tribes 

increases their capacity to oversee and 

support brownfields projects.

Targeted Brownfields Assessments

Direct assistance for site-specific 

assessments.

What is the Brownfields Grant 

Application Process?

For details on the grant application 

process, including frequently asked 

questions (FAQ) and proposal 

guidelines, please visit: 

www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicat.htm

Other EPA Programs and Offices 

Working Toward 

Land Revitalization

Superfund

Superfund is the environmental 

program established to address 

abandoned hazardous waste sites, 

allowing EPA to clean up such sites 

and to compel responsible parties to 

perform cleanups or reimburse the 

government for EPA-led cleanups.

www.epa.gov/superfund/index.htm

Underground Storage Tanks (UST)

The greatest potential hazard from 

a leaking UST is that the petroleum 

or other hazardous substance can 

seep into the soil and contaminate 

groundwater, the source of drinking 

water for nearly half of all Americans.

www.epa.gov/OUST/index.htm

Federal Facilities

The Federal Facilities Restoration 

and Reuse Program works with other 

federal and state agencies to facilitate 

the cleanup and reuse of the nation’s 

federal facilities, including Base 

Realignment and Closure (BRAC) sites.

www.epa.gov/swerffrr/index.htm

Resource Conservation and 

Recovery Act (RCRA)

Through RCRA, EPA has the authority 

to control hazardous waste from 

“cradle-to-grave,” including the 

An Overview of 

Land Revitalization 

As part of its mission to protect human 

health and the environment, EPA 

is dedicated to revitalizing all types 

of contaminated land for productive 

reuses. Cleaning up and reusing 

contaminated properties can protect the 

environment, reinvigorate communities, 

jump-start local economies, preserve 

greenspace, and prevent sprawl. 

Revitalized land can be reused in ways 

that offer the greatest local benefit—

from creating public parks and restoring 

local ecosystems to commercial and 

residential redevelopment projects.

The Agency’s land revitalization efforts 

emphasize that cleanup and reuse 

are mutually supportive goals and 

consideration of anticipated property 

reuse should be an integral part of 

EPA’s cleanup decisions. Whether 

a property is a Superfund site, an 

operating waste disposal site, a 

petroleum facility, a former gas station, 

or an abandoned industrial facility, EPA 

believes that environmental cleanup 

and the beneficial reuse of land across 

all Agency programs must be achieved. 

The Agency’s land revitalization efforts 

place an emphasis on:

•	 Promoting effective tools 

that address barriers to land 

revitalization;

•	 Developing land revitalization 

statistics, measures, and outcomes;

•	 Conducting land revitalization 

public outreach;

•	 Providing training;

•	 Enhancing government coordination 

to promote land revitalization; and

•	 Building strong land revitalization 

partnerships.

EPA’s Brownfields Program

EPA’s Brownfields Program has been 

instrumental in furthering the Agency’s 

land revitalization goals. The Program’s 

grants and technical assistance give 

communities, states, tribes, and other 

stakeholders the resources they need 

to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and 

sustainably reuse brownfields.

A brownfield is a property, the 

expansion, redevelopment, or reuse 

of which may be complicated by the 

presence or potential presence of a 

hazardous substance, pollutant, or 

contaminant. It is estimated that there 

are more than 450,000 brownfields in 

the U.S.

“Cleaning up contamination is vitally 

important to the physical health of 

America’s communities, but putting 

clean land back into productive 

use brings with it a range of social 

and economic benefits that will 

strengthen those communities for 

years to come.” 

—EPA Assistant Administrator

for Solid Waste and Emergency Response

Mathy Stanislaus 

October 2009

waste’s generation, transportation, 

treatment, storage, and disposal. RCRA 

also establishes a framework for the 

management of non-hazardous wastes. 

www.epa.gov/compliance/cleanup/rcra/

index.html

Office of Enforcement and 

Compliance Assurance (OECA)

Employing an integrated approach of 

compliance assistance, compliance 

incentives, and innovative civil and 

criminal enforcement, OECA and its 

partners seek to maximize compliance 

and reduce threats to public health 

and the environment. www.epa.gov/

compliance/about/index.html

Depot Park in Gainesville, Florida, built on a former brownfield. 

Photo © 2006 Matthew Dubé 

What are the Goals of the 

Brownfields Program?

•	 Protecting the Environment

Addressing brownfields to 

promote the health and wellbeing of America’s people and 

environment.

•	 Promoting Partnerships

Enhancing collaboration and 

communication essential to 

facilitate brownfields cleanup 

and reuse.

•	 Strengthening the 

Marketplace

Providing financial and technical 

assistance to bolster the private 

market.

•	 Sustaining Reuse

Redeveloping brownfields to 

enhance a community’s longterm quality of life.

A local artist paints a mural that will be displayed on a 

former brownfield in Winsted, Connecticut.

Photo © 2009 Judy Griesedieck

Brownfields Funding

Assessment

Funding to inventory, characterize, 

assess, and conduct planning and 

community involvement related to 

brownfields. An eligible entity may 

apply for up to $200,000 to assess 

a site contaminated by hazardous 

substances, pollutants, or other 

contaminants and up to $200,000 

to address a site contaminated by 

petroleum. Three or more eligible 

entities may apply together as a 

coalition for up to $1 million to assess a 

minimum of five sites.

Cleanup

Funding to carry out cleanup activities 

at brownfields. An eligible entity may 

apply for up to $200,000 per site, 

which may be used to address sites