(AGENPARL) - Roma, 23 Maggio 2024 - (AGENPARL) – gio 23 maggio 2024 Biden-Harris Administration Announces Over $1.3 Million in Brownfield Grants Through Investing in America Agenda to Rehabilitate and Revitalize Communities in Cherokee Nation
Funded by $1.5 billion investment into Brownfields sites from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address legacy pollution, advance environmental justice, and create healthier communities
EPA selected the Cherokee Nation for a Brownfields Community-wide Assessment Grant to conduct 25 Phase I and 10 Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to prepare three cleanup plans and one reuse plan and to support community engagement activities. Priority sites include open fields with vegetation in Skiatook, a 2.4-acre developed site with several structures in Bartlesville, the historic Citizen’s Bank building and former jail in Marble City, and a 15-acre undeveloped site near a former cold storage plant in Stilwell.
“Far too many communities across America have suffered the harmful economic and health consequences of living near polluted brownfield sites,” said President Joe Biden. “I’ve long believed that people who’ve borne the burden of pollution should be the first to see the benefits of new investment. Under my Administration, we are making that a reality by ensuring the historic resources from my Investing in America agenda reach communities that need it most. I am proud that my Administration is helping Philadelphia clean up and transform this area into an economic engine, while tackling a longstanding environmental injustice and creating good-paying jobs.”
“President Biden sees contaminated sites and blighted areas as an opportunity to invest in healthier, revitalized communities,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “That’s why he secured historic funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, supercharging EPA’s Brownfields program to clean up contaminated properties in overburdened communities and bring them back into productive use.” 
“The Cherokee Nation continues its impressive work to clean up abandoned and contaminated properties to create healthy neighborhoods for their citizens,” said Regional Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance. “Historic funding amounts from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda are providing more opportunities for Tribes to invest in their own lands, environment, and well-being.”
Many communities that are under economic stress, particularly those located in areas that have experienced long periods of disinvestment, lack the resources needed to initiate brownfield cleanup and redevelopment projects. As brownfield sites are transformed into community assets, they attract jobs, promote economic revitalization and transform communities into sustainable and environmentally just places.
Thanks to the historic $1.5 billion boost from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA’s Brownfields Program is helping more communities than ever before begin to address the economic, social, and environmental challenges caused by brownfields and stimulate economic opportunity, and environmental revitalization in historically overburdened communities.
Additional Background:
EPA has selected these organizations to receive funding to address and support the reuse of brownfield sites to address the health, economic, social, and environmental challenges caused by brownfields. EPA anticipates making all the awards announced today once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied.
EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.7 billion in Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. Prior to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this program made approximately $60 million available each year. Thanks to the President’s historic investments in America through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA has now increased that yearly investment nearly 400 percent. More than half of the funding available for this grant cycle (approximately $160 million) comes from the historic $1.5 billion investment from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This investment has also allowed the MAC grants’ maximum award amounts to increase significantly from $500,000 to a new maximum of $5 million per award.
______________________
Environmental Protection Agency, 1201 Elm Street, Suite 500, Dallas, TX 75270 United States