On October 24, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a $300,000 Brownfields Assessment grant to Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority. The grant will support revitalization for priority Brownfields sites across the City, including those that may be in Opportunity Zones.
“We are proud that this grant will enable more properties to be transformed like this site – formerly the General John Reynolds School – soon becoming a community asset providing housing for veterans,” said Cosmo Servidio, EPA’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator. “This redevelopment is a perfect example of what can be accomplished when public-private partnerships and communities work together.”
EPA has awarded more than $7.1 million in Brownfields funding to Philadelphia which grant recipients have been able to use to leverage more than $37.2 million. With this support, Philadelphia has completed 174 assessments of properties for redevelopment, cleaned up seven contaminated properties, and leveraging of 360 jobs.
These accomplishments have helped neighborhoods in need by creating jobs and jumpstarting economic development, and improving public health and the environment.
Grants awarded by EPA’s Brownfield Program to have been shown to:
-- Increase Local Tax Revenue: A study of 48 brownfields sites found that an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional local tax revenue was generated in a single year after cleanup. This is two to seven times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of these sites.
-- Increase Residential Property Values: Another study found that property values of homes near revitalized brownfields sites increased between 5 percent and 15 percent following cleanup.
-- Support reuse and redevelopment in identified sites or targeted areas in census tracts designated as federal Opportunity Zones. Opportunity Zones have tax incentives that are designed to spur economic development and job creation by encouraging investors to fund new businesses, develop properties, and finance construction in distressed areas.
Visit EPA’s Brownfields Grants and Brownfields Program webpages for more information.
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[Posted: October 25, 2019] www.PaEnvironmentDigest.com
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