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Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) announced today that Genesee County and Flint have been awarded a total of $2.4 million in Brownfield grants. Genesee County was awarded a $200,000 Assessment Grant and a $2 million Revolving Loan Fund Grant. The City of Flint was also awarded a $200,000 Assessment Grant. As part of the Brownfield Economic Redevelopment Initiative, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Flint and Genesee County these funds to help revitalize and rejuvenate blighted areas.
“These grants will help prepare for future cleanup activities, which will help revitalize and redevelop abandoned and contaminated properties,” said Kildee. “We must continue to provide resources to maintain and preserve the health of the environment so that these areas can be safely used by future occupants.”
There are three different types of Brownfield grants, which represent different stages of the revitalization process. Assessment Grants are used to provide funding for brownfield inventories, planning, environmental assessments, and community outreach. Brownfields Cleanup Grants provide direct funding for cleanup activities at certain properties with planned green-space, recreational, or other nonprofit uses. Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Grants provide funding to capitalize loans that are used to cleanup brownfield sites.
The EPA’s Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to enable states to work together with other agencies to prevent, assess and safely clean up brownfield sites for economic redevelopment. The Brownfields Grants Program was created to help revitalized blighted areas, which in turn will create jobs, preserve green-space and open land. The program specifically focuses on distressed communities that are in need of economic and environmental rehabilitation. |
