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Grant funds are available to transform your brownfield into an economically viable property.

FY21 applications are available from the Virginia Brownfields Restoration and Economic Redevelopment Assistance Fund Review Committee, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and Virginia Economic Development Partnership.

The deadline to apply is April 1, 2021. Find the application here. Awards are expected to be announced in May 2021.

Jeff Duncan, Principal at ONE Environmental Group with offices located throughout the Commonwealth, encourages municipalities, eligible for awards up to $500,000, to apply.

“If you have a property in need of assessment or planning or if you want to remediate the site, these funds could be just what is needed to support revitalization,” he said.

Grants help fill a financing gap for projects or phases of work for restoration and redevelopment of brownfield sites as well as address environmental problems or obstacles to reuse so that these sites can be effectively marketed to new economic development prospects that have not already commenced.

Virginia Brownfields Restoration and Economic (VBAF) Site Assessment and Planning Grants, in amounts of up to $50,000, are available to assist with the costs of:

• Environmental and cultural resource site assessments.
• Development of remediation and reuse plans. 
• Necessary removal of human remains, the appropriate treatment of grave sites, and the appropriate and necessary treatment of significant archaeological resources, or the stabilization or restoration of structures listed on or eligible for the Virginia Historic Landmarks Register.
• Demolition and removal of existing structures, or other site work necessary to make a site or certain real property usable for new economic development.

VBAF grants do not reimburse costs already incurred for a project or phase of work that has begun or is already completed.

Remediation grant funds, in the amounts of up to $500,000 can be used for:

• Remediation of a contaminated property to remove hazardous substances, hazardous wastes, or solid wastes.
• Necessary removal of human remains, the appropriate treatment of grave sites, and the appropriate and necessary treatment of significant archaeological resources, or the stabilization or restoration of structures listed on or eligible for the Virginia Historic Landmarks Register
• Demolition and removal of existing structures, or other site work necessary to make a site or certain real property usable for new economic development.

Duncan said ONE recently completed a successful project for the Parks and Recreation Department of a municipality in the west-central portion of the state. ONE assisted with the application and obtaining grant funds to complete assessment and remediation work to obtain a Certificate of Satisfactory Completion within the DEQ Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP). The property was remediated to render the property available for future recreational use by the Department.

The grants are coordinated, administered and awarded by DEQ and VEDP.

Duncan can answer questions about the application and help with its completion. Contact him at .