EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002, as amended by the Brownfields Utilization, Investment and Local Development Act of 2018, was passed to help states and communities around the country clean up and revitalize brownfield sites. Under this law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through five competitive grant programs: Multipurpose Grants, Assessment Grants, Revolving Loan Fund Grants, Cleanup Grants, and Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.
$300,000
EPA has selected the Blackfeet Tribe for a Brownfields Assessment Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to prepare an updated inventory of brownfield sites and conduct 10 Phase I and nine Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to develop five cleanup plans and support community outreach activities. Assessment activities will focus on several abandoned sites in the Town of Browning and throughout the Blackfeet Reservation. Priority sites include a former cattle dip vat at the Skate Park Trail, which was filled with an arsenic solution and used to eradicate ticks from cattle; the vacant Free School; and four abandoned tribal government and maintenance buildings. The Blackfeet Reservation contains a Qualified Opportunity Zone.