Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Cooperative Agreements

66.818 Related Federal Assistance 66.817 , 66.815 , 66.814 Overview Objectives Brownfield sites are real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, po

The Brownfields Program supports communities with addressing sites that are blighted, vacant and underutilized. Grant funding supports activities to determine if there are any environmental hazards and contamination on site, and if there are, how much, and where the contamination is located. Other support includes developing various planning documents that will help lead to the successful redevelopment and reuse of the site, support for community engagement activities, and funding to clean up the contamination (to the appropriate legal standards).

Eligibility for Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grants: a general purpose unit of local government; a land clearance authority or other quasi-governmental entity that operates under the supervision and control of, or as an agent of, a general purpose unit of local government; a government entity created by a State legislature; a regional council or group of general purpose units of local government; a redevelopment agency that is chartered or otherwise sanctioned by a State; a State; a Federally recognized Indian Tribe other than in Alaska; an Alaska Native Regional Corporation, Alaska Native Village Corporation and the Metlakatla Indian Community. Intertribal consortia, except consortia comprised of ineligible Alaskan tribes; an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of that Code; a limited liability corporation in which all managing members are organizations or limited liability corporations whose sole members are organizations described in subparagraph organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of that Code; a limited partnership in which all general partners are organizations described in subparagraph (I) or limited liability corporations whose sole members are organizations described in subparagraph organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of that Code; or a qualified community development entity (as defined in section 45D(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Other nonprofit organizations that do not have 501(c)(3) tax exempt status are also eligible for Cleanup Grants. For the purposes of the Brownfields Grant Program, the term "other nonprofit organization" consistent with 2 CFR 200.70 means any corporation, trust, association, cooperative, or other organization that is operated mainly for scientific, educational, service, charitable, or similar purpose in the public interest and is not organized primarily for profit; and uses net proceeds to maintain, improve, or expand the operation of the organization. The term includes nonprofit institutions of higher education. However, nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 are not eligible to apply. For profit organizations are not eligible to apply. For certain competitive funding opportunities under this assistance listing, the Agency may limit eligibility to compete to a number or subset of eligible applicants consistent with the Agency's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy.

Generally, those eligible entities identified above will benefit from the Brownfields Grant actions. Specifically, individuals and commercial organizations in communities will benefit from brownfields assessment, cleanup, and revitalization funding. New strategies for promoting environmental cleanup lessons from these grants will provide a growing base of information and knowledge for other communities across the country seeking partnerships with stakeholders to coordinate issues related to brownfields and leverage additional opportunities for redevelopment.

For site-specific projects, the site must meet the definition of a brownfields site found at CERCLA 101(39). As part of the application process, EPA provides guidance to assist grant applicants in determining whether sites meet this definition. (1) The Brownfield Grants may be used to address sites contaminated by petroleum and hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants (including hazardous substances co-mingled with petroleum). (2) Brownfields Assessment Grant funds may be used to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning and community involvement related to brownfield sites. (3) An RLF project grant recipient must use at least 50 percent of the awarded funds for cleanup loans to capitalize and implement a revolving loan fund; an RLF Grant recipient may use no more than 50 percent of the awarded funds on non-loan related activities, such as for cleanup subgrants. The recipient may not subgrant to itself. Revolving Loan Fund Grants generally are used to provide no-interest or low-interest loans for brownfields cleanups. (4) An RLF project grant recipient may use its funds to award subgrants to other eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, for brownfield cleanups on sites owned by the subgrantee; (5) Brownfields Cleanup Grant funds must be used to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites that are owned by the grant recipient. (6) Multipurpose Grant projects may be used to conduct assessment, cleanup, and planning activities within a defined area. For further information, please contact the Headquarters or regional office. Assistance agreement awards under this program may involve or relate to geospatial information. Further information regarding geospatial information may be obtained by viewing the following website: Geospatial Resources at EPA (https://www.epa.gov/geospatial).This program makes Federal awards on a discretionary basis. A discretionary award means an award in which the Federal awarding agency, in keeping with specific statutory authority that enables the agency to exercise judgement ("discretion"), selects the recipient and/or the amount of Federal funding awarded through a competitive process or based on merit of proposals. A discretionary award may be selected on a non-competitive basis, as appropriate. For further information, please contact the Headquarters or regional office.

Costs incurred under CERCLA 104(k) grants or cooperative agreements may not be used for a penalty or fine, a Federal cost-share requirement, a response cost for which the recipient of the grant or cooperative agreement is potentially liable under CERCLA 107, or the cost of complying with a Federal law, with the exception of the costs of laws applicable to cleanup of brownfield sites. For further information, please contact the Headquarters or regional office. Administrative costs, including indirect costs, are limited to 5% of the amount of EPA funding as required by CERCLA 104(k)(5)(E). Grant funds cannot be used for the payment of administrative costs, including all indirect costs and direct costs for grant administration, in excess of five (5) percent of the total amount of EPA grant funding, with the exception of financial and performance reporting costs (which are considered allowable programmatic costs and not subject to the 5% limitation); a response cost at a brownfield site for which the recipient of the grant or a subaward is potentially liable under CERCLA Section 107; and a cost of compliance with any federal law, excluding the cost of compliance with laws applicable to the cleanup.

The assistance is available for 180+ days. The performance period for Brownfield Assessment cooperative agreement is four to five years, depending on the type of agreement. The performance period for Cleanup cooperative agreement is four years. The performance period for Brownfields Multipurpose and Revolving Loan Fund cooperative agreements is five years. Revolving Loan Fund Grants may be supplemented with additional funding which will extend the performance period (typically, by two to four years). Grants are generally announced nationally and awarded by EPA Regional Offices. The Regional Offices work with the applicants to negotiate a workplan and award the cooperative agreement.

An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. Executive Order 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs," applies to this assistance listing when proposed financial assistance involves land use planning and construction necessary to clean up Brownfields sites. EPA financial assistance programs and activities subject to intergovernmental review that are subject to review under State single point of contact procedures are identified at https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-financial-assistance-programs-subject-executive-order-12372-and-section-204. Applicants for programs or activities subject to Intergovernmental Review that are not subject to State single point of contact review must provide directly affected State, areawide, regional, and local entities at least 60 days to review their application following notification by EPA that the application has been selected for funding as provided by 40 CFR 29.8(a) and (c). Regarding pre-application assistance with respect to competitive funding opportunities under this assistance listing, EPA will generally specify the nature of the pre-application assistance, if any, that will be available to applicants in the NOFO. For additional information, contact the individual(s) listed in the NOFO.

RLF Grant recipients seeking supplemental funding: Generally, in February, the Brownfields Office issues an annual Funding Guidance that provides the due date and information that should be submitted to request supplemental RLF funds. Eligible recipients must submit their supplemental funding requests, with all necessary documentation, to the appropriate EPA regional office. Once initial requests are received, EPA headquarters consolidates requests and provides a funding based on factors provided in the Funding Guidance. When final funding decisions are made, regions will negotiate final workplans with the RLF Grant recipient and the recipient will submit the application through Grants.gov. Applicants, except in limited circumstances approved by the Agency, must submit all initial applications for funding through Grants.gov.

The evaluation and selection criteria for competitive awards under this assistance listing will be described in the competitive announcement. RLF Grant recipients seeking supplemental funding: EPA will not fund this action through competitive grant announcement. Funds will be supplemented to eligible RLF Grant recipients in accordance with the national Funding Guidance.

For competitive awards, EPA will review and evaluate applications, and/or submissions in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the competitive announcement. Competitions will be conducted in accordance with EPA policies/regulations for competing assistance agreements. For non-competitive awards made under this assistance listing, EPA will conduct an administrative evaluation to determine the adequacy of the application in relation to grant regulations and to technical and program evaluation to determine the merit and relevance of the project. The Agency will then advise the applicant if funding is being considered. A final workplan will then be negotiated with the applicant. Final approval of applications is made by EPA. Award of grant funds are generally made by EPA Regional Award Officials. Final approval of applications is made by EPA. Award of grant funds are generally made by EPA Regional Award Officials.

For competitive awards, deadlines will be specified in the competitive announcement. Existing RLF recipients seeking supplemental funding: Generally, in February, the Brownfields Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization issues an annual Funding Guidance that provides the due date and information that should be submitted to request for supplemental funding. Interested RLF Grant recipient can also consult the Brownfields website for grant solicitation information at https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfields-revolving-loan-fund-rlf-grants.

Extensions are subject to EPA approval. Recipients of RLF Grants may apply for additional funding on a non-competitive basis during any year after the first year the recipient receives an RLF Grant. To seek additional funding, RLF Grant recipients should contact their EPA Regional Office. In awarding this additional funding the Agency will consider: (I) the number of sites and number of communities that are addressed by the revolving loan fund; (II) the demand for funding by eligible entities that have not previously received an RLF Grant; (III) the demonstrated ability of the eligible entity to use the revolving loan fund to enhance remediation and provide funds on a continuing basis; and (IV) other similar factors, including the availability of funds and the recipient's performance history. When the source of supplemental funding changes (e.g., IIJA funds are awarded when the grant was initially awarded with non-IIJA funds) or specific criteria are met (e.g., performance period is approaching 15-year limit), RLF supplemental funding can be awarded as a new grant in accordance with CERCLA § 104(k)(5)(A)(ii). Otherwise, RLF supplemental funding is awarded as an amendment to the existing cooperative agreement with additional years added to the performance period.

Assistance agreement competition-related disputes will be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution procedures published in 70 FR (Federal Register) 3629, 3630 (January 26, 2005). Copies of these procedures may also be found at https://www.epa.gov/grants/grant-competition-dispute-resolution-procedures. Disputes relating to matters other than the competitive selection of recipients will be resolved under 2 CFR 1500 Subpart E, as applicable.