EPA Announces Louisiana Dept. of Environmental Quality to Receive $300,000 in Brownfields Assessment Funding

06/10/2021

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) is among the 151 recipients of 154 grant awards totaling $66.5 million in Brownfields funding through its Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grants. LDEQ plans to use their $300,000 assessment grant to conduct environmental site assessments, develop cleanup plans and support community outreach activities. Assessment activities will focus on the city of New Orleans’ historic Algiers neighborhood, which contains two Qualified Opportunity Zones. Priority sites include two former gas stations and automotive shops, a swimming pool complex in a local park that has been unused since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and 10 historic residential properties.

 

This funding will support underserved and economically disadvantaged communities across the country in assessing and cleaning up contaminated and abandoned industrial and commercial properties. Approximately 50 percent of selected recipients are receiving EPA Brownfields grant funding for the first time and more than 85 percent serve small communities.

 

“Through our Brownfields Program, EPA is delivering on the Biden Administration’s commitment to lifting up and protecting overburdened communities across America, especially communities that have experienced long periods of disinvestment and decay,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “These assessment and cleanup grants will not only support economic growth and job creation, but they will also empower communities to address the environmental, public health, and social issues associated with contaminated land.”

 

“LDEQ remains a strong partner in leveraging brownfields funding to benefit communities in New Orleans,” said Acting Regional Administrator David Gray. “EPA is proud to support their efforts to assess these properties in the historic Algiers neighborhood.”

 

“I am always excited to learn of new Brownfields projects in Louisiana. This grant will help us find more likely sites for cleanup and redevelopment in one of the most historic areas of New Orleans – Algiers. Our Brownfields staff brings an energy to their work that is fueled by the marvelous outcomes they achieve,” said

LDEQ Secretary Dr. Chuck Carr Brown.

 

Today’s grant announcement includes:

 

• $8.8 million for 11 Multipurpose Grants, which will provide funding to conduct a range of eligible assessment and cleanup activities at one or more brownfield sites in a target area. 

 

• $42.2 million for 107 Assessment Grants, which will provide funding for brownfield inventories, planning, environmental assessments, and community outreach.

 

• $15.5 million for 36 Cleanup Grants, which will provide funding to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites owned by the recipient.

 

The list of the fiscal year 2021 applicants selected for funding is available here: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicants-selected-fy-2021-brownfields-multipurpose-assessment-and-cleanup-grants

 

EPA anticipates that it will award the grants once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied by the selected recipients.

 

Since its inception in 1995, EPA's Brownfields Program has provided nearly $1.76 billion in grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return them to productive reuse. This has led to significant benefits for communities across the country. For example:

 

• To date, communities participating in the Brownfields Program have been able to attract more than $34.4 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding after receiving Brownfields funds. This has led to over 175,500 jobs in cleanup, construction, and redevelopment.

 

• Based on grant recipient reporting, recipients leveraged on average $20.13 for each EPA Brownfields dollar and 10.3 jobs per $100,000 of EPA Brownfield Grant funds expended on assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund cooperative agreements.

 

• In addition, an academic peer-reviewed study has found that residential properties near brownfield sites increased in value by 5% to 15.2% as a result of cleanup activities.

 

• Finally, analyzing data near 48 brownfields, EPA found an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional tax revenue for local governments in a single year after cleanup—2 to 7 times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of those brownfield sites.

 

For more on the Brownfields Grants: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-epa-brownfield-grant-funding

 

For more on EPA’s Brownfields Program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields
 

Connect with EPA Region 6:

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eparegion6

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/EPAregion6

Activities in EPA Region 6: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-6-south-central
 

SOURCE: Environmental Protection Agency