Federal Recovery Act Funding & the RR Program

• Background
• Brownfields Funding
• Ready For Reuse Loan & Grant Program
• 2009 Brownfields & the Recovery Act Workshop
• LUST Funding
• LUST Reimbursement Claims
• Superfund Funding
• Want More Information?

Background

In mid-February, President Barack Obama signed the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The ARRA designates spending in more than 130 different state and federal programs. The majority of the funds will flow through existing state programs and through existing formulas.

Of particular interest to the DNR’s Remediation and Redevelopment (RR) Program is the approved nation-wide funding for three federal environmental cleanup programs:

• $600 million for Superfund sites;
• $200 million for leaking underground storage tanks (LUSTs) sites; and
• $100 million for brownfields.

These web pages will help you better understand how the state will use recovery funds for the investigation and cleanup of contaminated properties in Wisconsin, and also provide helpful contact information as well as link to other Recovery Act-related web pages.

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Brownfields Funding

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received $100 million in Recovery Act funds to distribute to brownfield projects. In May, the agency awarded approximately $37 million of the Recovery Act funds to applicants who applied for funding in November, 2008. Through the RR Program, the DNR received $2 million in cleanup revolving loan funds (RLF) from EPA with Recovery Act funding, which will be used to replenish the DNR's Ready For Reuse Loan & Grant Program.

Because of the high demand for brownfields Recovery Act funding, the RR Program accepted competitive applications for the $2 million from June 23 until August 14. Twenty applications (1 loan, 19 grants) totaling $4.34 million were received, and Program staff will review and score the applications, and/or request more information from applicants as needed. Funding awards are expected to be announced by early November, 2009.

Also, in April, EPA announced the availability of additional Recovery Act funds to supplement eligible brownfields RLFs. The deadline for submitting requests for supplemental RLF funding was May 1, 2009. The RR Program applied for $8 million in both supplemental and Recovery Act funding, and in August received $500,000 in supplemental, non-Recovery Act funding. These funds will also be used to replenish the Ready For Reuse Loan & Grant Program.

The RR staff contacts for Brownfields Recovery Act funding: Darsi Foss (608.267.6713) or Melissa Enoch (608-266.9263).

For more information about Wisconsin's existing RLF program, visit the Ready for Reuse Loan and Grant Program web page.

2009 Brownfields and the Recovery Act Workshop

On June 16, the RR Program held the 2009 Brownfields and the Recovery Act Workshop. View materials from the workshop on our Brownfields Conferences and Workshops web page.

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LUST Funding

• LUST Reimbursement Claims

Wisconsin received $6.381 million in Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Recovery Act dollars. The LUST funds will be used for assessment and cleanup where there are no viable responsible parties (RPs), where remediation is fairly ready to proceed, and where the site is part of a pending or potential redevelopment action.

In August, Governor Jim Doyle announced several LUST grant awards, including:

• $3 million in Recovery Act funds for Milwaukee LUST projects [exit DNR];
• $2 million in LUST Recovery Act funds for Stetsonville projects [PDF 37KB]; and
• $118,000 in LUST Recovery Act dollars to the city of Beaver Dam.

Also, Mauston will receive $200,000 in Recovery Act funds for a LUST project and Marinette will receive $105,000 for LUST projects. The remaining LUST funds will be allocated toward pending projects – please continue to check this web site for additional award announcements and other implementation details.

The RR staff contact for LUST Recovery Act funding: Mark Gordon (608.266.7278).

For more information about petroleum contamination and cleanup in Wisconsin, visit our Petroleum web page. For more EPA information, please vist their LUST Recovery Act Program Guidance web page [exit DNR].

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Superfund Funding

On April 15, 2009, EPA announced the list of Superfund sites across the country that will receive ARRA funding. No sites in Wisconsin were chosen. To learn more about the sites that were chosen, visit the EPA Recovery Act Superfund web page [exit DNR].

For more information about Superfund sites in Wisconsin, visit our Superfund web page.

Want More Information?

• Wisconsin Office of Recovery & Reinvestment [exit DNR]
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ARRA web page [exit DNR]
• Remediation & Redevelopment Program Newsletters

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For more information on this specific page, contact:

Andrew Savagian
608.261.6422