EPA - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

05/17/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/17/2021 12:48

EPA Selects Stevens Point to Receive $300,000 Brownfields Grant

News Releases from Region 05

Additional grant brings statewide total to $1.4 million to help Wisconsin communities Build Back Better

05/17/2021

CHICAGO (May 17, 2021) - Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that the City of Stevens Point will receive $300,000 in Brownfields funding through its Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup (MAC) Grants. The funding will help the city conduct environmental investigations of abandoned industrial and commercial properties that have been targeted for redevelopment.

'EPA's brownfields program is providing critical funding to help empower Wisconsin communities to address the environmental, public health and social issues associated with contaminated land,' said Acting EPA Regional Administrator Cheryl Newton. 'EPA commends community leaders for using these funds to take vital steps forward to improve the environment and the local economy. These grants underscore EPA's commitment to lifting up and protecting all communities - especially overburdened and underserved communities - throughout Wisconsin.'

'I have always been a strong supporter of the EPA's Brownfields Program and these federal investments in communities across Wisconsin will help lay the groundwork for local efforts to turn brownfield sites into usable spaces that can help revitalize neighborhoods and create economic development,' said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

'I'm excited to see the EPA reinvesting in communities and helping support job growth and sustainable clean up while reusing existing infrastructure. I look forward to reviewing the results of the environmental assessments to have a better understanding of the sustainable redevelopment possibilities in the City of Stevens Point,' said Rep. Ron Kind.

Stevens Point will use its grant to fund environmental investigations focusing on the Downtown and Division Street Corridors. Properties include a former industrial and railyard site, an underutilized automotive dealership, and a historic building that formerly housed a convent. The award announced today is the second EPA Brownfields grant for Stevens Point. The city has already assessed 15 properties with EPA funds received in 2018.

'We're very happy to have been chosen again for the EPA grant. The development on the former Lullaby site and others may not have been possible without the partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency's brownfield grants and we'll look forward to continuing that successful partnership with this new award,' said Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza.

Two other brownfield grant recipients in Wisconsin were also announced today bringing the statewide funding total to $1.4 million. Milwaukee will receive $500,000, and Manitowoc and its project partner, Two Rivers, will receive $600,000.

'The Wisconsin DNR congratulates the city of Manitowoc, including its partners in Two Rivers and at Progress Lakeshore; along with the cities of Milwaukee and Stevens Point for securing these EPA Brownfields Grants,' said Wisconsin DNR Secretary Preston D. Cole. 'For more than 20 years, the DNR has helped hundreds of communities across the state clean up contaminated properties both large and small, revitalizing neighborhoods and improving the air, land and waters of Wisconsin. We look forward to working with these cities and their partners on these important cleanup and redevelopment projects, and stand ready to work with all Wisconsin communities seeking to improve their environmental conditions and redevelop brownfield sites.'

Nationally, a total $65.5 million will be awarded to 151 grantees to support underserved and economically disadvantaged communities across the country assess and clean up contaminated and abandoned industrial and commercial properties. Approximately 50% of selected recipients are receiving EPA Brownfields grant funding for the first time and more than 85% are located in or serving small communities.

The list of the fiscal year 2021 applicants selected for funding is available here:

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2021-04/documents/fy21_bf_mac_grant_selections_may_2021.pdf

EPA anticipates that it will award the grants once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied by the selected recipients.

Since its inception in 1995, EPA's Brownfields Program has provided nearly $1.72 billion in grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return them to productive reuse. Communities in Wisconsin have received 163 grants totaling more than $86 million. This has led to significant benefits for communities across the country. For example,

  • To date, communities participating in the Brownfields Program have been able to attract more than $34.4 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding after receiving Brownfields funds. This has led to over 175,500 jobs in cleanup, construction, and redevelopment.

  • Based on grant recipient reporting, recipients leveraged on average $20.13 for each EPA Brownfields dollar and 10.3 jobs per $100,000 of EPA Brownfield Grant funds expended on assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund cooperative agreements.

  • In addition, an academic peer-reviewed study has found that residential properties near brownfield sites increased in value by 5% to 15.2% as a result of cleanup activities.

  • Finally, analyzing data near 48 brownfields, EPA found an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional tax revenue for local governments in a single year after cleanup-2 to 7 times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of those brownfield sites.

    For more on the Brownfields Grants: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-brownfields-grant-funding.

    For more on EPA's Brownfields Program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields.