EPA Awards $1.2 million in Brownfield Grants to Kentucky Communities

FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 10, 2016) –– The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Brownfield Redevelopment Program announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected three projects to receive a total of six grants in Kentucky for brownfield community-wide assessments.

Over the past 11 years, with the help of the Kentucky Brownfields Redevelopment Program, Kentucky communities have received $12.9 million in EPA brownfields grants to help assess and remediate the estimated 8,000 brownfield properties in Kentucky. The Kentucky Brownfields Redevelopment Program offers assessment and grant review services, technical assistance and brownfields grant writing education to those communities and organizations that wish to revitalize properties with an environmental past.

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Bankers, Others Offered Workshop on Brownfield Redevelopment

Focus on liability, exemptions, available incentives

FRANKFORT, Ky.  (Feb. 3, 2016) – Bankers and property development professionals can take a crash course in brownfield redevelopment through a workshop sponsored by the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection and the Louisville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

The workshop will be conducted 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 24, 2016, at the Louisville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank. Attendees will get a better understanding of brownfields– properties that are abandoned or underutilized due to real or perceived environmental contamination– and the issues surrounding contaminated property redevelopment.

Kentucky nearing century mark on brownfield property reclamations

Nearly 100 properties reclaimed in less than three years

You may not know what a “brownfield” really is, but you’ve seen them.

It’s the piece of land or old building that used to be something like a pencil factory, a gas station, an old hospital or a dry cleaner that sits empty year after year. Not only is it an eyesore at times, it might sit in what would otherwise be a prime location for a business, a parking garage or something that could be useful to a public or private entity.

But because brownfields often have a complicated history of real or perceived environmental issues, the sites often sit empty or unused for long periods of time, can become blighted, an insurance liability or have other problems that make them unusable or difficult to obtain financing for purchase.

Energy and Environment Cabinet Announces Second Round of Cleaner Commonwealth Fund Recipients

Provides financial assistance for projects that clean up brownfield sites

FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 22, 2015) – The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Brownfield Redevelopment Program today announced the second group of grant recipients of the Cleaner Commonwealth Fund. Four projects are

FY 2015 EPA Brownfield Grant Guidance Announced—Due Dec. 19, 2014

Have a blighted property? Got properties with a questionable environmental history? Chances are you have brownfields. Brownfields are properties that are abandoned or underutilized due to contamination or the perception of contamination. They include a variety of sites, including abandoned schools and hospitals, former factories, mine-scarred lands, gas stations and dry cleaning sites. The good news is there are resources out there to assist communities, nonprofits and quasi-governmental agencies assess and remediate their problem properties, allowing communities to get those properties back into productive reuse.

Brownfield Property Is Now a Vibrant Community Center

When the City of Sharpsburg was offered a donation of the property on the site of the old Sharpsburg gym and school grounds, Mayor Dorothy Clemons and other city officials consulted with the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection’s Brownfield Redevelopment Program for assistance in determining the proper steps to take to accept the gift and request funding to revitalize the site. Realizing the benefits of redeveloping this property to create a much-needed community center, the city wanted to be sure the correct procedures were followed to detect any environmental contamination of the historic area, which would need to be cleaned before

Cleaner Commonwealth Announces First Grantees

The Kentucky Brownfield Redevelopment Program is pleased to announce the first grant recipients of the Cleaner Commonwealth Fund. In March, the program solicited requests for funds to redevelop brownfield properties. This fund, which is administered through the Division of Compliance Assistance, provides financial assistance for projects that clean up brownfield sites, including old factories, former gas stations and other properties that are abandoned or underutilized due to environmental contamination. The fund is a grant-and-loan fund established with an $850,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund grant.