Eligibility

Find out which sites and entities are potentially eligible to apply for and receive a Brownfields Grant.

Sites Potentially Eligible for Funding

Sites that are publicly or privately owned within the United States, including tribal lands.
Sites where real or perceived contamination from hazardous substances or petroleum has hindered property reuse.
Sites whose redevelopment has community support and contributes to a broader vision benefiting the community.
Sites that convert a brownfield property to community greenspaces, such as a park or urban garden.
Sites in environmental justice areas where the project will benefit the existing neighborhood and avoid physical or cultural displacement.
Sites that show a commitment by a unit of government, a nonprofit organization or a community organization to complete the brownfield redevelopment process.
Sites where the applicant is not a party responsible for the contamination.

Entities Eligible for Funding

Entities eligible for State and Tribal Response Program funding, Assessment Coalition Grants and Community-wide Assessment Grants for States and Tribes have special specifications listed below. For all other Brownfields Grants, entities eligible for funding include:

Local governments, meaning a county, municipality, city, town, township, local public authority (including any public and Indian housing agency under the United States Housing Act of 1937), school district, special district, intrastate district, council of governments (whether incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under state law or not), any other regional or interstate government entity, or any agency or instrumentality of a local government.
Land clearance authorities or other quasi-governmental entities that operate under the supervision and control of, or as an agent of, a unit of local government.
Government entities created by state legislature.
Regional councils or groups of local government.
Redevelopment agencies chartered or otherwise sanctioned by a state.
States.
Federally recognized Indian tribes other than in Alaska.
Alaska Native Regional Corporations, Alaska Native Village Corporations and Metlakatla Indian Communities.
Nonprofit organizations described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Limited liability corporations in which all managing members are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations or limited liability corporations whose sole members are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations.
Limited liability partnerships in which all general partners are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations or limited liability corporations whose sole members are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations.
Qualified community development entities as defined in section 45D(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
Applies only to Cleanup Grants, Job Training Grants, Technical Assistance, and Training and Research Grants. Other nonprofit organizations, meaning any corporation, trust, association, cooperative or other organization that is operated mainly for scientific, educational, service, charitable or similar purposes 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.
Applies only to Job Training Grants. Workforce investment boards and organized labor unions that meet the criteria may be eligible nonprofit organizations. 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. For-profit or proprietary training organizations or trade schools are not eligible.

Entities Eligible to Receive Section 128(a) State and Tribal Response Grants

States, as defined in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 § 101(27).
Indian tribe, as defined in CERCLA § 101(36).
Intertribal consortia, as defined in the Federal Register Notice at 67 FR 67181, Nov. 4, 2002.

Entities Eligible for Assessment Coalition Grants

States, county governments, Indian Tribes other than in Alaska, regional councils established under a governmental authority (e.g., regional planning commissions), or a group of general purpose units of local government (e.g., councils of governments).
A state entity may only be the lead member of the coalition.
The coalition must have at least two, but not more than four, non-lead members.
Entities that do not have an open (i.e., the grant period of performance has ended) Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, or Cleanup (MARC) Grant and entities that were awarded a MARC Grant that closed in 2016 or earlier are eligible to be a non-lead coalition member.
The members of the coalition may not be an agency or instrumentality of themselves (e.g., a county and the redevelopment authority of the same county), except for coalitions in which the state is the lead and one of the members is a regional council or regional commission that is created by a state legislature through a charter or another official action.
EPA encourages coalitions to include eligible community-based nonprofit organizations as non-lead members to help promote strong local engagement and to ensure that the community’s concerns and vision for revitalization are incorporated into the project.

Entities Not Eligible to Receive Brownfield Grants

Entities that are liable for contamination at the site where grant funding would be used for remediation.
For-profit organizations and individual entities.
Nonprofit organizations subject to section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that lobby the Federal government.