Superfund

Valley of the Drums, KY:  Picture courtesy of EPA

The goal of the Superfund Redevelopment program is to ensure health and safety to both humans and the environment.  The government's top priority is to cleanup contaminated sites as quickly and effectively as possible.  The EPA works in collaboration with individuals responsible for the contamination.  Pilot programs were started and designed to have potentially responsible parties assist with up to $100,000 of the proposed cleanup and/or serve the community in some other way.  The responsible party must do some type of community involvement, whether it is educating the community or making plans for future redevelopment. 

In 1980 the Federal Government passed the Comprehensive Environmental  Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) which put a tax on all chemical and petroleum companies.  It also gave the federal government the authority to take remedial action if necessary.  The money collected from this was put into a trust and used for Superfund cleanup.

Brownfields

There are three Brownfields grant programs that can be applied for for funding;  Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grant Programs.  Assessment grants allow individuals to apply up to $200,000.  This would cover the assessment of the site and including and overview of contaminants and pollutants present.  The Revolving Loan Fund Grant allows one individual to apply up to $1,000,000,  or a collaboration of multiple individuals to apply for up to $1,000,000 per individual in the group effort.  The Cleanup Grants allow individuals to apply for up to $200,000 per site up to 5 sites.  It is also required for the Cleanup grants that the applicant owns the property(s) and must have a minimum of a Phase 1 site assessment done.  Funding for the Fiscal year of 2004 are estimated to be about 200 grant awards and $100 million. 

Click here for more information: Who pays?