News Releases from Region 02

EPA Announces $11 Million in Nationwide Brownfields Technical Assistance Funding

New Jersey Institute of Technology Will Receive $3 Million

(New York, N.Y. – May 5, 2016) The U.S Environmental Protection Agency today announced $11 million in funding to provide for the cleanup of brownfields sites, including encouraging more public involvement in the cleanup process. The New Jersey Institute of Technology will receive $3 million in grant funds. Other organizations receiving funding from the EPA include the Center for Creative Land Recycling and Kansas State University.

“The EPA’s brownfields program improves communities by cleaning up toxic pollution that can pose a threat to public health and the environment,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. “Much of the funding announced today will benefit low-income communities — places where environmental cleanups and new jobs are often most needed.”

The New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Technical Assistance to Brownfield Communities program will use the $3 million in funding announced today to provide support to communities throughout much of the eastern US, excluding states within EPA’s Region 2 (New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands). The New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Technical Assistance to Brownfield Communities program assists communities at various stages of addressing brownfields cleanups, through long-term mentoring, workshops, seminars, and public meetings.

Communities in EPA Region 2 who are interested in receiving assistance through the Technical Assistance to Brownfield Communities program should contact the Center for Creative Land Recycling or Kansas State University. The Center for Creative Land Recycling’s Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities program includes an online resource center that offers information on funding, the regulatory process, case studies, videos and contact information. The Center for Creative Land Recycling also provides custom trainings for communities interested in brownfields development. Kansas State University offers workshops on topics such as brownfield basics, building and enhancing Indian Nation response programs, and leveraging resources. Kansas State University will also offer online tools, with one-on-one assistance to communities in how to use them.

There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated sites in the United States. The EPA’s Brownfields program targets these sites to encourage redevelopment, and help provide the opportunity for productive community use of contaminated properties. Since the inception of the EPA’s Brownfields program in 1995, cumulative investments have leveraged more than $21.6 billion from a variety of public and private sources for cleanup and redevelopment activities. This equates to an average of $18 leveraged per EPA brownfield dollar expended. These investments have resulted in approximately 113,000 jobs nationwide.

For more information on the TAB program, visit:  https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfields-technical-assistance

For more information on EPA’s Brownfields program, visit: http://epa.gov/brownfields/

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