Groundwork Hudson Valley, which help residents reclaim and revitalize communities with great need, is one of this year’s grant recipients.Photo via Groundwork Hudson Valley.
Twenty communities looking to bolster their economy by revitalizing abandoned land will have the help of a 2013 Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Grant, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last week.
EPA’s Brownfields Area-Wide Planning program provides funding for research, technical assistance and training that will result in an area-wide plan and implementation strategy for key brownfield sites. EPA launched the program in 2010 with the goal of adopting a broader approach to brownfield redevelopment.
The 20 communities which received this year’s grants are:
| Environmental Health Coalition (National City, CA) Central Florida Regional Planning Council City of Freeport, IL Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Council (Chicago, IL) City of Indianapolis, IN City of Council Bluffs, IA Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, KY City of Shreveport, LA Town of Lee, MA Groundwork Hudson Valley (Yonkers, NY) |
City of Minot, ND City of Toledo, OH Cumberland County Redevelopment Authority (Carlisle, PA) Philadelphia City Planning Commission The Enterprise Center, Inc. (Chattanooga, TN) City of Burlington, VT City of Vancouver, WA City of Green Bay, WI City of Janesville, WI City of Wausau, WI |
More information about each of the projects is available on EPA’s website.
This year is the second round of Area-Wide Planning grants to be awarded. The first round of grants, awarded in 2010-2012, went to 23 communities in 19 states.
EPA’s brownfields program, which includes the Area-Wide Planning program as well as other strategies, has assessed 20,066 brownfields sites across the country and cleaned up 38,585 acres of previously contaminated land. The investments have leveraged more than $19 billion in cleanup and redevelopment and more than 87,000 jobs from both public and private sources.
EPA’s brownfields program is part of the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a collaboration between EPA, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Transportation. Learn more about brownfields cleanup and reuse.