News Releases from Region 05

EPA Selects Indiana Finance Authority to Receive $500,000 Brownfields Grant

CHICAGO (May 16, 2021) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that the Indiana Finance Authority, or IFA, will receive $500,000 to supplement the state’s Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund.  This grant will help remediate environmental contamination at abandoned industrial and commercial properties that have been targeted for redevelopment.

Brownfield RLF grants enable funding for communities to provide loans and sub-grants for cleanup activities at brownfield sites. When loans are repaid, the loan amount is returned into the fund and re-lent to other borrowers, providing an ongoing source of capital within a community.

“EPA’s brownfields program is providing critical funding to help empower communities  to address the environmental, public health and social issues associated with contaminated land,” said Acting EPA Regional Administrator Cheryl Newton. “EPA commends community leaders for using these funds to take vital steps forward to improve the environment and the local economy. These grants underscore EPA’s commitment to lifting up and protecting all communities - especially overburdened and underserved communities.”

The funds announced today bring IFA’s total RLF awards to more than $10.4 million since 2008. The IFA has used the EPA grants to clean up five properties across the state.

“This recent RLF supplemental award will help the IFA support the City of Warsaw to address environmental challenges with up to three brownfield sites," said Jim McGoff, IFA Director of Environmental Programs. "The Indiana Brownfields Program continues to be a crucial resource for communities that are seeking to remediate and redevelop hazardous-substance sites throughout Indiana.”

To date, EPA’s RLF grantees across the country have completed 794 cleanups and attracted approximately 48,000 jobs and $16.2 billion in public and private funding.

For more information on EPA’s Revolving Loan Fund program: https://www.epa.govhttps://www.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfields-revolving-loan-fund-rlf-grants

For more information on EPA’s Brownfields program:

http://www.epa.govhttps://www.epa.gov/brownfields