Ohio has one of the best state brownfield grant programs in the country. There are two pots of money available at the state level:
- Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund (CORF)- Grant that offers up to $3 million to reimburse clean up and some redevelopment costs. Requires a 25% match. Typically awards are made twice a year and applications for projects compete against one another for limited funding.
- Clean Ohio Assistance Fund (COAF)- Grants are awarded on a rolling basis so long as money remains available in the grant cycle. COAF pays up to $300,000 in assessment costs (Phase II) and $750,000 for clean up.
A year ago, the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) announced a major change to COAF-greatly expanding areas eligible to submit COAF applications. ODOD has just released the 2010 Priority Investment map which shrinks the eligible areas back down the "normal" coverage under the program.
Properties eligible to request COAF funding are those located in a "inner city area", a "labor surplus area" or a "situational distress area" as defined by O.R.C. 122.65(H). Each year the Ohio Department of Development releases a map of the State that identifies which areas fall under one of the three categories and could apply.
ODOD also announced a freeze on COAF clean up grant requests because the number of applications in the pipeline already exceed available funds for FY 2011. You can still submit an application, but you will not receive clean up funding in FY 2011. This is in part because ODOD decided to prioritize Phase II grants last year thereby reducing available funding for clean up.