Unlocking Opportunity: Federal Brownfield Funding for Municipal Revitalization in 2026

In 2026, municipal governments across the U.S. will have a significant opportunity to transform long-neglected Brownfield sites into thriving community assets, thanks to increased federal investment and funding.

With over $1.5 billion in grants and technical assistance available through the EPA and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, cities, states, and towns can access resources to assess, clean up, and redevelop contaminated properties. This funding empowers local leaders to leverage cutting-edge remediation technologies and techniques, pursue sustainable reuse strategies like brightfield conversions, and engage their residents in shaping sustainable redevelopment plans that transform blighted properties and environmental liabilities into engines of economic growth and community revitalization.

The EPA offers a variety of grants for different purposes, depending on the needs of a community:

1. Assessment Grants provide funding to communities for brownfield inventories, planning, environmental assessments, and community outreach. Assessment grants are divided into three distinct categories: community-wide assessment grants, assessment coalition grants, and community-wide assessment grants for states and tribes. There have been significant enhancements to assessment coalition grants, including increased funding and the elimination of some lead agency restrictions to make coalition building easier for communities. For communities with diverse coalitions that may not have qualified previously, this enhancement opens new doors to partnering for meaningful change.
2. Cleanup Grants are so named since they provide funding to perform cleanup activities. Cleanup is often a critical early step in preparing for redevelopment.
3. Multipurpose Grants are designed to provide funding to communities that have identified areas, such as a neighborhood, with one or more brownfield sites.
4. Job Training Grants are intended to assist nonprofits and other organizations with environmental training for communities impacted by brownfield sites.
5. Technical Assistance Grants are available to make funding available to organizations to provide training and technical assistance to help address brownfield challenges in communities.
6. Revolving Loan Fund (RLR) Grants typically provide loans to communities for clean-up activities. These loans are then repaid and loaned to other borrowers; however, the EPA will not issue a request for RLF Grants in  FY2026. Communities with open RLF agreements will have the opportunity to request additional funding in FY2026. Despite this pause, communities should still consider RLF funding in the future, and it is not too early to begin preparing for the FY2027 cycle next fall.

Anticipated grant amounts for FY 2026 are summarized below:

(Source: EPA.gov: Multipurpose, Assessment, RLF, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant Application Resources | US EPA)

If your community is considering a request for Brownfield funding, it’s not too late to consider developing and submitting an application. The EPA is expected to issue solicitations for funding as soon as the Federal shutdown ends for FY 2026 Multipurpose Grants, Assessment Grants, and Cleanup Grants. The submission deadline will be approximately 60 days after the solicitations are published. Please reach out if you would like assistance preparing an EPA Brownfield grant application.

The Brownfield team at CHA has been instrumental in assisting communities in securing EPA grant funding and then working with your community, coalition, or non-profit to leverage this important source of funding in a meaningful way that will drive impactful change in your community.

We understand the diverse perspectives and requirements of regulators, developers, funding administrators, and community stakeholders, and work diligently to balance incorporating remedial and reuse strategies that cost-effectively ready blighted properties for productive community-driven reuse and return them to community assets.

Make 2026 a year of transformation for your community and take a meaningful first step by partnering with CHA’s Brownfield experts.