Brownfields Multipurpose Grants
A Multipurpose (MP) Grant is appropriate for communities that have identified, through community engagement efforts, a discrete area (such as a neighborhood, a number of neighboring towns, a district, a corridor, a shared planning area or a census tract) with one or more brownfield sites. The target area may not include communities that are located in distinctly different geographic areas.
Multipurpose Grant funds provide funding for communities to carry out a range of eligible assessment and cleanup activities, including planning and additional community engagement activities. The performance period for these grants is up to five years.
An applicant can apply for up to $1,000,000 and should demonstrate how grant funds will result in at least:
- one Phase II environmental site assessment;
- one brownfield site cleanup; and
- an overall plan for revitalization that includes a feasible reuse strategy for one or more brownfield sites, if there is not already a plan in place.
A Multipurpose Grant applicant should have the capacity to conduct a range of eligible activities, for example:
- Developing inventories of brownfield sites;
- Prioritizing sites;
- Conducting community engagement activities;
- Conducting environmental site assessments;
- Developing cleanup plans and reuse plans related to brownfield sites;
- Carry out cleanup activities on brownfield sites owned by the applicant; and
- Developing an overall plan for revitalization.
At the time of application, a Multipurpose Grant applicant must own a site(s), that meets the CERCLA § 101(39) definition of a brownfield site, within their target area where cleanup activities may be conducted. Eligibility determinations for site-specific assessment and cleanup activities will be made after the award of the grant throughout the project period.
Current EPA Brownfields Multipurpose Grant and Assessment Grant recipients must demonstrate that payment has been received from EPA (also known as ‘drawn down’), and drawn down funds have been disbursed, for at least 70.00% of each Multipurpose and Assessment cooperative agreement they have with EPA by October 1, 2023, in order to apply for an FY24 Multipurpose Grant.
Participant Support Costs
- Participant Support Costs are available under Multipurpose Grants.
- EPA recognizes that effective community engagement is a vital process to help alleviate environmental justice concerns for citizens in underserved areas and give them a voice in their community's future. A community liaison can serve as a key resource to help ensure the citizens' goals and interests are reflected in the planned reuse of individual brownfield sites and well as the revitalization of the areas in which they live, work, play, learn, and pray.
- Recipients may use a portion of the Multipurpose Grant for eligible participant support costs associated with one community liaison per target area who is not an employee of the recipient. This may include reasonable stipends to compensate an individual community member(s) time and travel costs for participating in project-related meetings (e.g., meetings with the community, meetings held by a brownfields advisory board, etc.) and time associated with other specific tasks that are directly tied to related community engagement efforts. Note that stipends may only be paid for actual time spent working on tasks associated with the project and must not duplicate support provided through other Federal, state, tribal, or local programs.
Additional information on participant support costs is available in EPA’s Guidance on Participant Support Costs.
Grant Application Resources
- List of Entities Eligible to Apply for Multipurpose Grants
- NEW: FY 2024 Multipurpose Grant Application Resources
- Grant Application Resources from Prior Years
- Interested in applying for funding? (Multipurpose Grant Fact Sheet)
- Renewable Energy or Energy-Efficient Approaches in Brownfields Redevelopment (pdf)
- Socially Distant Engagement Ideas
MP Grant Recipient Resources
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Programmatic Requirements
- Information on Sites Eligible for Brownfields Funding under CERCLA § 104(k) (pdf)
- Information on Eligible Planning Activities