On August 9th, the State of Ohio announced Round 4 of its Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program awards. The State awarded $106.9 million in brownfield grant funding to assist with redevelopment of 61 brownfield sites in 22 counties. On the map copied above from the State’s announcement, the counties in brown received cleanup grants and the
Voluntary Action Program
Ohio Closes First Round of Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program
In July 2023, the Ohio Legislature injected an additional $350 million into the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program (OBRP) due to the success of the program in the prior two years. Funding was split into $175 million in FY 24 and a second $175 million available in FY 25. The Legislature also reserved $1 million in…
Ohio Brownfield Grant Program Massively Oversubscribed
In July 2023, the Ohio Legislature injected an additional $350 million into the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program (OBRP) due to the success of the program in the prior two years. At the end of the first cycle of funding, the Program was significantly oversubscribed. Therefore, it was anticipated there would be more projects in the…
Changes to the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Fund
In July, the Ohio General Assembly passed the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Main Operating Budget which included another round of $350 million in funding for the Brownfield Remediation Fund. This second round of funding builds up on the very successful launch of the program in the prior State budget.
While the structure of the program largely…
Ohio Releases Guidelines for $500 Million in Funding for Brownfield and Demolition Programs
In July 2021, Ohio’s 2022-2023 budget allocated $500 million in new brownfield funding under various development programs: $350 million for the investigation, cleanup, and revitalization of brownfield sites and another $150 million for the demolition of vacant or abandoned commercial or residential buildings.
The Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) will administer the funding and is…
Ohio Budget Adds $500 Million in Brownfield Funding on a First Come First Served Basis
Since the sunset of the Clean Ohio Program in 2013, there has been a strong push for dedicated funding to address brownfield sites in Ohio. The Ohio 2022-2023 budget just signed by Governor DeWine comes through in a very big way by allocating $500 million in new funding under various programs. The budget allocates $350…
Brownfield Redevelopment and Ohio’s Legacy Cities
The Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) has been calling attention to Ohio’s so-called “legacy cities.” These are the smaller to mid-sized cities across the state other than Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron, Canton and Youngstown. Cities like Portsmouth, Mansfield, and Lorain.
A recent Dispatch editorial called attention to GOPC’s efforts regarding Ohio’s legacy cities citing…
Changes at JobsOhio May Lead to Expanded Brownfield Redevelopment
The primary source of grant funding for brownfield redevelopment is the JobsOhio Revitalization Fund. The program can provide up to $200,000 in grant money to fund Phase II environmental assessment work which is key to positioning brownfield properties for redevelopment. Many times it is difficult to determine whether a project is viable on a brownfield
…
New Ohio Bill Could Jumpstart Brownfield Redevelopment
Since the sunset of the very successful Clean Ohio Brownfield Revitalization Program, brownfield redevelopment has slowed in Ohio. At a time when the economy is finally doing well, and real estate development is in full recovery mode, brownfields are still being passed over for less costly redevelopment options.
This past week, Representative Arndt introduced House…
Ohio EPA Responds to Concerns Regarding the VAP and the Agency’s Response to TCE
[SPECIAL BLOG POST: Ohio EPA asked to publish a guest post on the Ohio Environmental Law Blog regarding recent developments pertaining to the Agency’s response to sites with trichloroethene (TCE) and the Voluntary Action Program (VAP). The Ohio EPA response is posted below in its entirety]
In August 2017, Ohio EPA announced to Certified…