Brownfields Reuse in Small, Rural and Tribal Communities
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Silver City, NM
Success Story: The Silver Lining in an Abandoned Hospital: Silver City, New Mexico
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Poplar, MT
Success Story: Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes
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Wayne County, WV
Success Story: Wayne County Economic Development Authority, West Virginia
Small, rural and Tribal communities often face common challenges when trying to find resources to address their brownfield sites, such as:
- A constrained local budget, which limits funding available to invest in brownfield assessment, remediation, and redevelopment activities.
- Fewer people with availability to manage brownfield projects and limited access to technical expertise.
- Plenty of large parcels and/or uncontaminated properties available nearby, which lowers market demand for brownfields reuse.
Fortunately, many small, rural and Tribal communities have built the partnerships and capacity they needed to attract investment for brownfields reuse. Check out these three examples.
EPA provides several free brownfields technical assistance resources that can benefit small, rural and Tribal communities especially, including:
- Targeted brownfields assessments
- Technical assistance to brownfields communities providers
- Tribal technical assistance
- 128(a) Technical Assistance Grants
- Land Revitalization technical assistance
Success rates for small, rural and Tribal communities who apply for and are awarded an EPA's Brownfield Grant are on par with success rates from applicants with larger populations.
Success Rates Among Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup Grant Applicants
With the recent funding boost available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Brownfields Grant applicants from small and rural communities were selected for awards at nearly the same rate as applicants overall. Applicants from Tribal communities were selected for award at a 15% higher rate than applicants overall. This is great news for grant applicants from small, rural and Tribal areas!
Examples of Brownfields Projects in Small, Rural and Tribal Communities that Received Brownfields Funding
The Silver Lining in an Abandoned Hospital, Silver City, New Mexico
Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, Poplar, Montana
The Fort Peck Wellness Center, located in Poplar, Montana (population 773), is an effort that began in 2001. Local high school students worked with the Harvard Medical School and began studying the underlying issues causing a disparity in life expectancy among members of the Fort Peck Tribes. The average life expectancy in 2018 of an individual living on the Fort Peck Reservation is 59 years, compared to 78.5 years for the state of Montana and nationwide. In the years after the study, a small wellness center was created in Poplar and school-based programs provided children with health care services. The community began to outgrow the original wellness center. In 2019, the Fort Peck Tribe utilized funding from the Section 128(a) Response Program funding to conduct an environmental assessment on a vacant property. The assessment determined that no cleanup was required. In 2021, the new 50,000-square-foot facility replaced the smaller center and includes a healthcare clinic with medical, dental and therapy rooms. A pool, gym and workout equipment encourage physical fitness, while cultural arts, education and dance programs foster tribal traditions. The center was designed to promote health through every stage of life, providing services for healthcare, physical fitness, childcare and cultural arts and education.