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 Non-competitive opportunity, apply by Dec. 8
EPA’s Building Blocks technical assistance program offers quick, targeted help with your community’s brownfield redevelopment plans. Eligible applicants include local, county, or tribal governments, or nonprofit organizations that have the support of the local government on whose behalf they are applying.
No direct funding is available through this program. Instead, it provides about 8 months of invaluable technical assistance that helps you take care of issues that are beyond the scope of other brownfields assistance you might already be receiving. (And since the application process is non-competitive, EPA's Brownfields Team and Ecology’s Brownfields Team can help you perfect your letter of interest.)
Skykomish, Marysville, Kelso, Olympia, and Renton in Washington are among those communities that have taken advantage of this opportunity in the past. Deadline for submitting your letter is 2 p.m. Pacific on Friday, December 8.
How it works
EPA will select 8 to 10 communities by early January 2024 and intends to provide all technical assistance by August 2024. Recipients will receive targeted facilitation and coaching from subject matter experts; the opportunity to connect with local, regional, state, and federal partners; and the convening of a 1.5-day in-person workshop to bring together residents and other partners.
Although the benefits for each community will vary, one common benefit is the opportunity to engage with residents and stakeholders around a specific topic. That engagement will give you valuable feedback and ideas while creating buy-in and community spirit around your proposed initiatives.
Select from two technical assistance tools
Tool #1: Planning for Equitable Development. Works with communities to address issues of equity in factors that contribute to residents’ quality of life such as affordable housing, high-quality employment, walkable neighborhoods, transportation connections, environmentally safe and healthy communities, support for local culture, and other amenities and community institutions. Through this process, each selected community will choose one or two of these factors and participate in a process to identify relevant planning actions and policies to foster equitable development adjacent to or in the vicinity of their brownfield site(s).
Tool #2: Sustainable Strategies for Small Cities and Rural Communities. Identifies barriers to smart growth in local development codes, programs, initiatives, and policies across a variety of issue areas and helps small cities and towns promote community goals. This tool offers approaches for balancing economic growth with environmental protection of natural resources through sustainable, equitable, and efficient development patterns.
How to apply
- Select one of the two tools available.
- Write a 2-page letter outlining how the tool is relevant to your development challenge.
- Contact your EPA Region 10 representative or Ecology’s Brownfields Team if you need help perfecting your letter.
- Have the letter signed by (or provide a short letter of support signed by) a mayor, city manager, elected official, tribal leader, or other official government representative of your community.
- Email the Word or PDF attachment(s) to Chip Gurkin (gurkin.charles@epa.gov) no later than 2 p.m. Pacific on Friday, December 8.
- See Frequently Asked Questions and contact Chip if you have additional questions.
Learn more
 Contact us if you have a brownfield project!
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