• to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning and community involvement related to brownfield sites;
• to capitalize an RLF and provide subgrants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites; and
• to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites owned by the grant recipient.

Consortia or Intertribal Consortia, Indian Tribal Governments, Educational Institutions, Local Governments, Nonprofit Groups (excluding entities with lobbying activities), State/Territorial Agencies, Tribal Agencies, Universities. Please note that nonprofit groups are only eligible for the Brownfields Cleanup Grant. Nonprofit groups are not eligible for the Assessment or RFL grants.

A site must meet the definition of a brownfields site found at the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) 101(39). Activities include inventorying, characterizing, assessing, and conducting planning and community involvement related to brownfield sites. Additional support activities include program management and purchase of environmental insurance. A local government may use up to 10 percent of funds to monitor the status of controls used to protect human health and the health of people exposed to hazardous substances related to the site. Brownfields cleanup grant funds must be used to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites owned by the grant recipient.

RLF project grant recipients must use at least 60 percent of the awarded funds to capitalize and implement an RLF and may use its funds to award subgrants to other eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, for brownfields cleanups on sites owned by the subgrantee.

Proposal review information and criteria are included in the annual guidance. General criteria include:

• The extent to which a grant will stimulate the availability of other funds for environmental assessment or remediation, and subsequent reuse, of an area in which one or more brownfield sites are located.
• The potential of the proposed project or the development plan for an area in which one or more brownfield sites are located to stimulate economic development of the area upon completion of the cleanup.
• The extent to which a grant would address or facilitate the identification and reduction of threats to human health and the environment, including threats in areas in which there is a greater-than-normal incidence of diseases or conditions (including cancer, asthma or birth defects) that may be associated with exposure to hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants.
• The extent to which a grant would facilitate the use or reuse of existing infrastructure.
• The extent to which a grant would facilitate the creation of, preservation of, or addition to a park, a greenway, undeveloped property, recreational property or other property used for nonprofit purposes.
• The extent to which a grant would meet the needs of a community that has an inability to draw on other sources of funding for environmental remediation and subsequent redevelopment of the area in which a brownfield site is located because of the small population or low income of the community.
• The extent to which the applicant is eligible for funding from other sources.
• The extent to which a grant will further the fair distribution of funding between urban and nonurban areas.
• The extent to which the grant provides for involvement of the local community in the process of making decisions relating to cleanup and future use of a brownfield site.
• The extent to which a grant would address or facilitate the identification and reduction of threats to the health or welfare of children, pregnant women, minority or low-income communities, or other sensitive populations. In addition, applicants will be required to demonstrate that site specific activities are carried out at sites that meet the definition of a brownfields site at CERCLA 101(39).