FY23 Guidelines for Brownfield Assessment Grants (Community-Wide Assessment Grants) | EPA OLEM OBLR 22 05

Opportunity Information: Apply for EPA OLEM OBLR 22 05

The FY23 Guidelines for Brownfield Assessment Grants (Community-Wide Assessment Grants) is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) competitive funding opportunity designed to help communities identify, investigate, and plan for the reuse of brownfield properties. Brownfields are generally properties where redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. The grant guidance sits under the federal legal framework of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), which was expanded in 2002 through the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act to create specific authorities in CERCLA Section 104(k) for brownfields assistance. The 2018 Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act reauthorized the EPA Brownfields Program and updated provisions that affect how EPA can award brownfields funding, including updates tied to ownership and liability considerations. In practical terms, the opportunity is meant to give local and tribal governments and other eligible entities the resources to move stalled or underused sites toward safe, productive reuse by funding front-end environmental assessment work and related planning.

This particular competition focuses on Community-Wide Assessment Grants, which are intended to support a broader community strategy rather than work tied to only one pre-selected site. These grants typically support activities such as creating or improving brownfield inventories, prioritizing sites, conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments, developing cleanup or reuse plans, and building the local capacity needed to manage and advance brownfield redevelopment. The EPA frames the program as a way to empower states, tribal nations, communities, and nonprofit organizations to prevent, inventory, assess, clean up, and reuse brownfield sites, with assessment grants playing a key early role by generating the information needed to understand contamination risks, estimate cleanup needs, and reduce uncertainty that can deter investment or redevelopment.

The opportunity is issued as a discretionary award, meaning funding is competitive and awarded based on proposal merit and alignment with program goals rather than by formula. The funding instrument type is a cooperative agreement, which generally indicates EPA expects substantial involvement during the project period (for example, coordination on work plans, deliverables, reporting, and compliance requirements), as opposed to a traditional grant with less federal engagement. The funding activity category is Environment, and the assistance listing is under CFDA (now commonly referred to as Assistance Listing) number 66.818, which corresponds to EPA brownfields-related financial assistance.

Key administrative details in the source information include the funding opportunity number EPA OLEM OBLR 22 05, reflecting that it is managed within EPA offices responsible for land and emergency management and brownfields. The opportunity record shows a creation date of September 12, 2022, and an original closing date of November 22, 2022, with the note that applicants should consult Section IV of the official announcement for close date information (a common reminder because EPA may use specific submission windows, time zones, or supplemental deadlines). The listing indicates an expected 61 awards, suggesting EPA anticipated funding a sizable cohort of communities, tribes, and other eligible applicants nationwide in that cycle.

In terms of scale, the opportunity includes an award ceiling of $30,500,000 as shown in the source data. While the notice does not provide additional breakdowns here, that ceiling figure is presented as part of the funding parameters for the competition. The overall design of the program is to lower barriers to redevelopment by paying for the environmental due diligence and technical work that communities often cannot fund on their own, especially in areas where legacy industrial or commercial uses have left uncertainty about contamination. The end goal is to support revitalization outcomes such as safer land use, protection of human health and the environment, neighborhood stabilization, and the return of underutilized properties to productive economic or community use.

Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification)," which indicates the full announcement contains the definitive eligibility categories and any limits or special conditions. In EPA brownfields competitions, eligible applicants often include local governments, quasi-governmental entities, tribes, states in certain circumstances, and nonprofit organizations, but the precise eligibility rules (including any exclusions, documentation needs, or thresholds) are set in the official solicitation. As a result, the guidance referenced in the description is important not just for describing program goals, but for explaining who can apply, what activities are allowable, how community-wide scope is defined, and what EPA expects in an application package for this specific grant type.

Overall, this grant opportunity is best understood as a federal investment in the early-stage steps of brownfields revitalization: building an accurate picture of environmental conditions across multiple potential sites in a community, prioritizing where to focus resources, and producing assessment results and plans that make cleanup and redevelopment feasible. By funding assessments and related planning under CERCLA Section 104(k) authorities as updated by the BUILD Act, EPA aims to help communities move from uncertainty and disinvestment toward actionable redevelopment pathways grounded in sound environmental information.

• The Environmental Protection Agency in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY23 Guidelines for Brownfield Assessment Grants (Community-Wide Assessment Grants)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 66.818.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 12, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 22, 2022 See Section IV of the funding opportunity announcement for close date information.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $30,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 61 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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