Sioux City Selected for $300,000 EPA Brownfields Grant

(Lenexa, Kan., May 21, 2021) - Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) selected the City of Sioux City, Iowa to receive $300,000 in EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grant Program. During the press event at City Hall, Acting EPA Region 7 Administrator Edward H. Chu presented a novelty big check to Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott.

The City plans to conduct 14 Phase I and eight Phase II environmental site assessments with the grant funding. Additionally, the City will conduct reuse planning and community involvement activities. Assessment activities will take place throughout Sioux City, including the “Stockyards” and the downtown area.

“Through our Brownfields Program, EPA is delivering on the Biden administration’s commitment to lifting up and protecting overburdened communities across America, especially communities that have experienced long periods of disinvestment and decay,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “These assessment and cleanup grants will not only support economic growth and job creation, but they will also empower communities to address the environmental, public health, and social issues associated with contaminated land.”

“Communities can achieve important outcomes with Brownfields MAC funding,” said Acting EPA Region 7 Administrator Edward H. Chu. “Sioux City is taking the steps to revitalize several properties through environmental site assessments, reuse planning, and community involvement. These actions lay the foundation for building resilient and thriving neighborhoods.”

“We are grateful for the support and the funding our community has received from the EPA,” said Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott. “These funds will allow us to complete site assessments and encourage private investment and redevelopment that might not otherwise occur.”

The list of the fiscal year 2021 applicants selected for funding is available at:  www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicants-selected-fy-2021-brownfields-multipurpose-assessment-and-cleanup-grants.

EPA anticipates that it will award the grants once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied by the selected recipients.

Since its inception in 1995, EPA's Brownfields Program has provided nearly $1.76 billion in grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return them to productive reuse. This has led to significant benefits for communities across the country. For example:

• To date, communities participating in the Brownfields Program have been able to attract over $34.4 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding after receiving Brownfields funds. This has led to over 175,500 jobs in cleanup, construction and redevelopment.

• Based on grant recipient reporting, recipients leveraged an average of $20.13 for each EPA Brownfields dollar and 10.3 jobs per $100,000 of EPA Brownfield Grant funds expended on assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund cooperative agreements.

• In addition, an academic peer-reviewed study has found that residential properties near brownfield sites increased in value by 5% to 15.2% as a result of cleanup activities.

• Finally, analyzing data near 48 brownfields, EPA found an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional tax revenue for local governments in a single year after cleanup – two to seven times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of those brownfield sites.

For more on the Brownfields Grants, visit: www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-epa-brownfield-grant-funding.

For more on EPA’s Brownfields Program, visit: www.epa.gov/brownfields.