On Friday, Governor DeWine and the Ohio Department of Development announced the second batch of grant recipients from the Brownfield Remediation Fund (BRF). A total of 112 projects were announced including 79 clean-up projects and 33 assessment projects. Together, these projects in 41 counties, account for $192 million in BRF funds. These grants follow the first announcement of grants on April 26, when $60 million in grants were announced for 78 projects in 35 counties.
Taken together, more than 70 percent of the funds approved by Ohio lawmakers last June for the new Brownfield Remediation Fund have been awarded. Roughly $98 million remains from this one-time earmark of funds to address brownfields around Ohio.
Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) has been a long-time proponent of investment in brownfield remediation, first as a champion of the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund, and now as an advocate for the establishment of a new, permanent, brownfield program which benefits from a dedicated source of revenue. While the BRF is lacking this second element (a dedicated source of funds), GOPC recognizes the importance of the BRF as a first-step to eradicating these scourges of economic progress and neighborhood revitalization.
Click below to see the full list of projects that were announced on Friday as part of the second batch of BRF funds.
Recipients from the first batch of grants from April can be found below.
A third application window, which will be open to all eligible projects, is set to open on July 1, 2022. To learn if a brownfield project in your community is eligible, visit the Revitalizing Ohio’s Brownfield’s website to learn all about the BRF program and project eligibility.