A new grant program will spur brownfield redevelopment planning throughout Connecticut.
Today Gov. Dannel Malloy announced the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development is accepting applications for the program designed to help communities develop implementation plans for remediating and redeveloping clusters of brownfield sites.
The application deadline is Nov. 16.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a brownfield is land that has been or is perceived to be contaminated, complicating redevelopment.
The Brownfield Area-Wide Revitalization Planning Grant Program is a two-year, $1 million pilot program signed into law by Malloy this summer. It is modeled after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Area-Wide Planning Grant program.
There has been more than $130 million of state investment toward brownfield remediation. Connecticut currently has more than 100 projects throughout the state.
The new program encourages communities to consider areas such as neighborhoods, downtowns, waterfront districts, or other sections with multiple brownfields and develop strategies to assess, clean up and reuse the parcels for businesses, housing and public amenities that will generate jobs and revenues and revitalize the entire area. The program will allow local governments to create long-range plans for the prioritization of multiple sites.
“Applicants will develop specific plans and implementation strategies for assessing specific brownfield sites, as well as overarching revitalization goals for the designated BAR planning area,” DECD Commissioner Catherine Smith, said.
The pilot planning funding round, initially capitalized with $1 million, is open to municipalities, economic development agencies, and regional councils of government. Grants of up to $200,000 will be awarded competitively to eligible applicants.
Eligible uses of funds include, but are not limited to, community visioning processes, market studies, mapping, inventory, infrastructure and streetscape planning and conceptual designs. More information is available at www.ctbrownfields.gov.
