EPA Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund and
Cleanup (ARC) Grant Proposal Guidelines: Key Modifications
Background
EPA's Brownfields Program promotes the assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of America's estimated 450,000
brownfields. In fiscal year 2008, communities in 43 states, 2 Tribal Nations and 2 territories will share over $74 million
in EPA Brownfields grants to help revitalize these former industrial and commercial sites, turning them from problem
properties to productive community assets. Since the beginning of the Brownfields Program, EPA has awarded 1,255
Assessment grants totaling $298.6 million, 230 Revolving Loan Fund grants totaling $217.7 million, and 426 Cleanup grants
totaling $78.7 million—resulting in 11,779 properties assessed, 258 properties cleaned up, 544 properties representing 4,497
acres determined as ready for productive reuse, and 316 properties redeveloped or with redevelopment underway. These
projects have leveraged more than $ 11 billion in private investment and helped to attract more than 48,238 jobs.
Overview
EPA modified key areas of its Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) Grant Proposal Guidelines to create
additional funding opportunities for communities, and improve applicants' potential for success through:
• New opportunities for assessment applicants;
• Streamlined guidelines; and
• New proposal requirements, designed to help ensure grantee success.
Request for Brownfields Grant Proposals
EPA plans to issue a request for proposals (RFP) in late summer of 2008 for 2009 competitive EPA Brownfields grants.
Breakdown of the Differences Between the New EPA Brownfields ARC Grant Proposal Guidelines and Old Proposal Guidelines:
Modification
New opportunity for assessment
applicants - Coalition Assessments
No Assessment Coalition Opportunity.
An Assessment Coalition is comprised of three or more eligible entities.
The lead coalition member submits a Community-wide Assessment
grant proposal on behalf of itself and the other members. The coalition
may request up to $1 million to work on a minimum of five hazardous
substance and/or petroleum sites.
Coalition members are not eligible to apply for individual Community-
wide or Site-specific Assessment grants in the year they apply as part of
a coalition.
Examples of how Assessment Coalitions are designed to work are
presented elsewhere in the fact sheet.
Streamlined guidelines
a. Reduced complex terminology
b. Single proposal for community-wide
assessment
c. Separate guidance documents for
each grant type
d. Reorganized ranking criteria sections
e. Reduction in legal opinions
(RLF grants only)
f. Inclusion of a proposal content
checklist
a. Complex, legal language in various sections of the grant
proposals.
b. Two separate community-wide assessment proposals
required for hazardous and petroleum funding.
c. Assessment, RLF, and Cleanup grant proposal guidance
consolidated into one document.
d. Ten separate criteria sections used in proposal evaluations.
e. Two legal opinions required when submitting RLF grant
proposals.
f. Proposal content checklist not included in the grant
proposal guidelines.
a. Reduced "legalese" to increase accessibility and readability.
b. Hazardous and petroleum funding requests combined into one
community-wide assessment proposal.
c. Issued separate proposal guidance for Assessment, RLF, and
Cleanup grants.
d. Four concise criteria sections to reduce redundancy and focus on
project implementation.
e. One legal opinion required when submitting RLF grant proposals.
f. Proposal content checklist is now included at the end of threshold
and ranking criteria of the proposal guidelines, enhancing its
accessibility.
(continued)
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New proposal requirements to help
ensure grantee success
a. Environmental Assessment reports
b. Community notification
c. Narrative proposal limit
d. Letters of support from
community-based organizations
A Phase II environmental assessment report had to
be complete or underway at the time a Cleanup Grant
proposal was submitted.
Applicants not required to include documentation of
community notification with a proposal (i.e., provide the
community with notice of its intent to apply for an EPA
Brownfields grant).
18-page limit for narrative proposal
(including two-page cover letter).
Names and contact information for community-based
organizations provided in grant proposals.
a. Phase II environmental assessment reports must be complete at the
time a Cleanup Grant proposal is submitted.
b. Cleanup applicants only must include documentation of community
notification and response to comments when submitting an
EPA Brownfields grant proposal. This eliminates the need for
applicants to respond to several community notification questions in
the grant proposal while clearly demonstrating that the requirement
has been fulfilled.
c. 18-page limit for narrative proposal
(not including two-page cover letter).
d. Letters of support from all community-based organizations identified
in proposal must be included.
Community notification is a
threshold criteria for cleanup
grant applicants only
All applicants performed community notification prior to
grant award.
For threshold eligibility, only cleanup grant applicants need to perform
community notification prior to proposal submission.
All applicants (including RLF S Assessment applicants) are required to
implement community involvement plans once a grant is awarded.
All applicants will still be evaluated on their plans for community
involvement per required ranking criteria when submitting an EPA
Brownfields grant proposal.
What are some examples of how Assessment
Coalitions work?
Example #1
A state agency applies for EPA Brownfields funding
together with several smaller communities as members of
a coalition. The state assumes the role of "recipient" (i.e.,
the entity that would administer the grant, is accountable
to EPA for proper expenditure of the funds, and acts as
point of contact for other coalition members). These
entities have formed a coalition to target numerous sites
that have become blighted and/or under-utilized along an
historic highway running through the communities.
Example #2
A coalition of metro municipalities, such as one large
city and several surrounding cities/towns, could apply for
$ 1 million. In a given year, one coalition member's site
assessment needs may be relatively minimal compared to
another member's, or the ability to assess a targeted site
may be complicated by legal access issues. Priorities can
be set each year to conduct assessments on the properties
that have the most immediate need.
For additional information on the changes to the EPA
Brownfields ARC Grant Guidelines, or to apply for an
EPA Brownfields Grant, please visit:
www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicat.htm
United States Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Grant Proposal Guidelines
Fact Sheet
EPA-560-F-08-245
June 2008
www. epa. gov/brownfields
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