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 Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality for a Brownfields Assessment Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct 12 Phase I and six Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to develop three cleanup plans and support community outreach activities. Assessment activities for this grant will focus on the City of New Orleans's historic Algiers neighborhood. 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 in Algiers.