Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund (RFL) Grants

1) Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grants 
2) Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Coalition Grants 

RLF Grants are used to provide no-interest or low-interest loans for eligible brownfield cleanups, subgrants for cleanups, and other eligible programmatic costs necessary to manage the RLF. Additionally, recipients may discount loans, referred to as, “forgiving a portion of loan principal”; for an individual loan, recipients may discount the principal up to 50% of the loan amount, provided the total amount of the principal forgiven does not exceed $500,000 per site.

RLF Grants recipients may not subgrant or provide a discounted loan to themselves (i.e., to clean up a site the RLF recipient itself owns even if the site is owned by another agency within the same unit of government); and unlike intra-governmental loans, intra-governmental subgrants and intra-governmental discounted loans are not allowed under the RLF program. 

RLF Coalition Grants are comprised of one “lead” eligible entity that partners with one or more non-lead eligible entities; the RLF Coalition may request funding to address brownfield sites with hazardous substances and/or petroleum contamination.

RLF and RLF Coalition Grants funds can also be used for programmatic management of the grant; purchase of environmental insurance; and local governments may use up to 10% of their grant funds for the following activities:

• Health monitoring of populations exposed to hazardous substances from a brownfield site; and 
  
• Monitoring and enforcement of any institutional control used to prevent human exposure to any hazardous substance from a brownfield site. 

RLF programs are designed to operate for many years (possibly decades); they require long-term resource commitments from recipients and ongoing reporting to the EPA, even after the RLF Grants are closed. 

Only eligible entities that do not have, or are not a part of (i.e., a coalition member), an open cooperative agreement for a Brownfields RLF at the time of application may apply for funding under this NOFO: 

• State; General Purpose Unit of Local Government; Land Clearance Authority; Government Entity Created by State Legislature; Regional Council established under a governmental authority (e.g., Regional Planning Commissions); or a Group of General Purpose Units of Local Government established under Federal, state, or local law (e.g., councils of governments) to function as a single legal entity with authority to enter into binding agreements with the Federal Government; Indian Tribe other than in Alaska; an Alaska Native Regional Corporation; an Alaska Native Village Corporation; the Metlakatla Indian Community; Nonprofit Organizations (i.e., 501(c)(3)); Limited Liability Corporations; Limited Partnerships; and Qualified Community Development Entities as defined in Section 45D(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

Note: Grant recipients that do have an open Brownfields RLF cooperative agreement will have the opportunity to request additional funding through the Brownfields Program’s annual, non-competitive, supplemental funding process. 

Recipients need to have a strong understanding of real estate financing principles and approaches, including loan underwriting, loan servicing, and credit analysis; and have the ability to market the RLF program on an ongoing basis during the period of performance and after the closeout of the RLF Grant. 

RLF Coalition Grants members may not be members of other RLF Coalition Grants applications, nor submit an RLF Grants application as an individual applicant, in the FY25 competition cycle. 

A Coalition’s non-lead member may not be an agency or instrumentality of or affiliated with another non-lead member in the same coalition. The coalition members must be separate legal entities. 

Entities receiving RLF subgrants must own the subject site throughout the period of performance of the subgrant, but borrowers are not subject to this requirement. 

Applicants for FY25 RLF Grants may not apply for FY25 Cleanup Grants. 

Applicants can only apply for one RLF Grant. 

The EPA requires applicants to adequately describe environmental outputs (performance measures) and outcomes to be achieved with the award. 

The EPA encourages communities to take an area-wide approach to planning for the assessment, cleanup, and reuse of brownfield sites; especially where multiple sites are connected through location, infrastructure, economic, social, and environmental conditions.