Brownfields National Partnership to expand

Since its creation in 1993, the brownfields initiative has awarded grants to 362 communities nationwide, totalling over $140 million, and according to the EPA, has resulted in nearly 7,000 new jobs and leveraged over $2.3 billion in investment. Part of the brownfields initiative, Showcase Communities has also generated nearly 3,000 jobs, and assessed 536 properties.

“The success of the Clinton-Gore Administration’s efforts to revitalize brownfields clearly demonstrates that economic prosperity and the protection of public health and the environment go hand-in-hand,” said Browner. “The selection of these new Showcase Communities will help foster the cleanup of abandoned contaminated properties, while also bringing new jobs and new economic opportunities to these communities.”

Selected on a competitive basis, each Showcase Community will receive up to $200,000 for cleanup assessments and $200,000 to support a federal employee loaned to the community for two years. The communities will then work with local and state officials to develop local solutions to clean up and redevelop brownfields, which, in turn, serve as national models for other communities.