Who will pay for the cleanup if contamination is found?
EPA does not offer grant funds to private property owners; they only provide grants to local governments and non-profit organizations. However, EPA does offer low interest loans to private property owners for the cleanup of contamination. The existing Brownfields project cannot pay for cleanup; the funds can only be used for environmental site assessments and cleanup/redevelopment planning. Unless the property is owned by a local government or non-profit organization, the private sector (property owner) typically takes the lead and is responsible for most environmental cleanup projects. The program does not require a potential seller or buyer to commit to performing prohibitively expensive cleanup. One of the primary goals of the program is to assist in determining if a problem exists, what level of cleanup is needed and how site redevelopment impacts cleanup activities at the site.
