Application Notes:

Applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on November 14, 2024.

Prior to submitting applications, applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the appropriate regional contact listed on page 65 of the NOFA file in order to ensure that their proposed sites are eligible.

Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov.

Applications must include:

• SF 424
• SF 424A
• EPA Key Contacts Form 5700-54
• EPA Form 4700-4
• Narrative information sheet (3 pages max)
• Letter from the state or tribal environmental authority (if applicable)
• Narrative (10 pages max)
• Documentation indicating committed leveraged resources (if applicable)
• Threshold criteria responses, as detailed on pages 37-38 of the NOFA file
• Grants.gov lobbying form (if applicable)
• Negotiated/proposed indirect cost rate agreement (if applicable)

The narrative and narrative information sheet must be formatted on standard-sized, single-spaced pages, using a 12-point standard Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri font. If possible, the narrative information sheet, threshold responses, and narrative should be submitted as one file.

The following are required in order to submit an application:

• Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
• SAM (System for Award Management) registration
• SPOC (state Single Point of Contact) notification

Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam. Applicants in states participating in the SPOC program must contact the relevant SPOC listed in the SPOC file before applying.

Applicants are required to conduct a public meeting prior to submitting an application, as detailed on pages 31-33 of the NOFA file.

Applicants may email optional draft applications for review to the appropriate address provided in the Contact section by November 1, 2024.

Optional technical assistance calls may be scheduled online at calendly.com.

An optional webinar is scheduled for this component as follows:

September 24, 2024
Noon ET
Call-in: (646) 828-7666
Meeting ID: 161 402 2736
URL: usepa.zoomgov.com

Recordings of webinars held for this program can be found online at epa.gov/applicationresources and epa.gov/brownfields.

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Project area description and plans for revitalization (55 points)
• Community need and community engagement (40 points)
• Task descriptions, cost estimates, and measuring progress (55 points)
• Programmatic capability and past performance (30 points)

Refer to the NOFA file for additional application information.

Match Notes:

Matching funds are not required for this component; however, the applicant's strategy for leveraging resources will be considered during the application evaluation process.

Funding Notes:

An unspecified amount of funding is available for this program overall, with an estimated $100 million available to support an estimated 63 cooperative agreements through this component. Award availability and maximum award amounts will vary as follows:

• An estimated 30 awards of up to $500,000 each to clean up one brownfield site or to allocate up to $500,000 among multiple sites
• An estimated 23 awards ranging from $500,001 to $2 million each to clean up one brownfield site or to allocate among multiple sites
• An estimated 10 awards ranging from $2,000,001 to $4 million each to clean up one brownfield site or to allocate among multiple sites

Award notifications are expected to be issued by late spring 2024. The time between award notification and issuance of the award may take up to 90 days or longer.

The project period is up to four years.

Local governments may use up to 10 percent of their award funds for health monitoring of populations exposed to hazardous substances from a brownfield site, as well as monitoring and enforcement of any institutional control used to prevent human exposure to any hazardous substance from a brownfield site.

Administrative costs, with the exception of financial and performance reporting costs, are limited to 5 percent of the total award amount.

Funds will not support projects at the following types of properties:

• Facilities listed or proposed for listing on the National Priorities List (NPL)
• Facilities subject to unilateral administrative orders, court orders, administrative orders on consent, or judicial consent decrees issued to or entered into by parties under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
• Facilities that are subject to the jurisdiction, custody, or control of the U.S. government, except lands held in trust by the U.S. government for an Indian tribe

Funds may not be used for:

• Activities on brownfield sites where funds awarded through this component were previously expended
• Costs of community notification
• Direct costs for application preparation
• Penalties or fines
• Federal cost-share requirements
• Response costs at a brownfield site for which the award recipient is potentially liable under Section 107 of the CERCLA
• Costs of compliance with any federal law, excluding the cost of compliance with laws applicable to the cleanup
• Unallowable costs, such as lobbying, under Title 2, Part 200, Subpart E of the CFR
• Marketing brownfield properties for redevelopment
• Area-wide zoning and/or design guideline development that is unrelated to advancing cleanup and reuse of brownfields in the project area
• Area-wide master planning, community visioning, or comprehensive planning that are unrelated to advancing cleanup and reuse of brownfields in the project area

Refer to page 48 of the FAQ file for information regarding additional ineligible costs.

For FY 2025, a total of $267 million was distributed through this program overall. For FY 2024, more than $300 million was distributed through this program overall. For FY 2023, a total of $215 million was distributed via 267 awards through this program overall. Refer to the Award file for details.

June 16, 2025
Information regarding awards through this program overall has been released and appended to the Award file. A sample of award recipients has been added to the Eligibility section, and a brief summary of the awards has been added to the Financial section.

October 21, 2024
Slides from a webinar held for this program overall have been released and attached as the OverviewWebinarPresentation file in the WebinarPresentation folder. All relevant sections have been updated accordingly. A recording of a webinar held for this program has also been released, and a link to the presentation is available in the Application section.

October 4, 2024
Transcripts from the webinars held for this program have been released and attached as the WebinarTranscript and WebinarTranscript2 files.

September 26, 2024
A recording of a webinar for this component has been released, and a link to the presentation is available in the Application section. In addition, presentation slides for the webinar have been released and attached as the RankingCriteriaWebinarPresentation file in the WebinarPresentation folder.