2025 EPA Brownfield Assessment and Cleanup Grant Announcement

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, Tribal Nations, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfield sites. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002, as amended by the Brownfields Utilization, Investment and Local Development Act of 2018, was passed to help states and communities around the country clean up and revitalize brownfield sites. EPA has selected the City of Galesburg for a Brownfields Assessment Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct 15 Phase I and five Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to update an inventory of brownfield sites, develop four cleanup plans, and conduct community engagement and reuse planning activities. The target area for this grant is the Downtown Grand Corridor in Galesburg. Priority sites include a 1.75-acre former hotel and a 0.5-acre former printing company. EPA has selected the City of Galesburg for a Brownfields Cleanup Grant that will be funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Grant funds will be used to clean up the Former Knox Laundry site located at the corner of North Kellogg and East Ferris Streets. The 0.55-acre cleanup site began operations in 1898 as a retail laundry site, transitioning into a multi-story dry cleaning facility by the 1990s until its closure in the early 2000s. It is contaminated with tetrachloroethylene. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community engagement and reuse planning activities.