The new Brownfields Impact Fund will launch later this winter, according to a Monday announcement from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. The goal of the fund is to advance cleanup activities that will in turn help promote the redevelopment of brownfield sites for productive reuse.
Low-interest loans up to $350,000 will be available to for-profit organizations and will make grants up to $350,000 available to nonprofit organizations and units of local governments, to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites throughout the state.
Potential applicants for the Brownfields Impact Fund can pre-qualify now here.
Brownfields are former commercial or industrial sites that are vacant or underutilized and are suspected or known to be contaminated. These properties have a negative impact on New Jersey’s economy because they lower property values, decrease employment opportunities and lead to a loss of tax revenue.
“As we continue to build a stronger, fairer New Jersey economy, Gov. Phil Murphy has identified the remediation and redevelopment of brownfield sites as an important component of smart planning that will allow our state to meet its goals for economic growth,” NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan said. “The Brownfields Impact Fund will increase the economic impact of the state’s investment, reactivating long-stalled sites and encouraging job creation through productive reuse of long dormant properties.”
Eligible uses of the loan and/or subgrant funding include remediation activities necessary to clean up the release or mitigate the threatened release of hazardous materials and other activities approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Applications for the Brownfield Impact Fund are expected to open early 2022. For the first 90 days after the date the authority begins accepting applications, eligibility will be limited to federally designated Opportunity Zones in the States’ Community Collaborative Initiative cities. After the 90 days, the authority will accept applications from projects located throughout the entire state.
