Two Alabama regional organizations and one municipality were selected by the EPA to receive grant funds totaling $1.5 million. The East Alabama Regional and Development Commission (EARPDC), the Top of Alabama Regional Council of Governments (TARCOG), and the City of Tuskegee were selected from a field of ten grant applications submitted from Alabama in fiscal year 2021.
EARPDC and TARCOG each received coalition grants of $600,000 and the City of Tuskegee received a community-wide grant of $300,000 for the assessment of brownfield properties within their respective jurisdictions. The assessment grant application process typically includes descriptions of demographics and target area along with an evaluation of community need and engagement, reuse strategies, leveraging resources, programmatic capability, and past performance.
Federal brownfield grants have become progressively more competitive since inception of the Brownfields and Land Revitalization Program in the 1990s. Alabama's 30% award rate this year is on par with the 2021 national award rate of 35%. A list of all 2021 Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) grant recipients is available here.
The Alabama Brownfields Association shares in the excitement of these awards and the role they play in helping to transform our State's blighted and contaminated properties into community assets. If you would like more information on the EPA brownfield grant process, send an email to admin@albfa.org.