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Loans & Grants

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields Grant

The U.S. EPA offers a variety of grant and loan programs and technical assistance to help communities assess and clean up brownfields and prepare them for redevelopment. The proposal package for the fiscal year 2017 assessment, cleanup and revolving loan fund grants is currently available at U.S. EPA's Brownfields Grants page. The application deadline is December 20, 2016. In order to develop a complete proposal package, the U.S. EPA requires a letter of acknowledgement from a state agency. Learn how to obtain a Letter of Acknowledgment from DTSC. All requests must be received by December 9, 2016.

Targeted Site Investigation (TSI) Program

TSI Program Grantees Selected 2016!

The TSI Program is a grant program in which brownfields sites are selected to receive environmental investigation services through a competitive application process. For the selected sites, DTSC oversees the investigation and develops a report at no cost to the applicant. The goal of the TSI Program is to facilitate the redevelopment planning and reuse of brownfields. Local government agencies, school districts and non-profit organizations are highly encouraged to apply.

This year, almost $300,000 of environmental investigation services are being directed to four development projects. If you are interested in this program, we highly encourage you to contact the TSI Coordinator to discuss the details of your projects in Central and Northern California:

Access a copy of the 2016 TSI Application Guidelines and Application.

Burton School District in Porterville – up to $51,000 worth of services to test soil at an abandoned drive-in theater, closed for more than a decade, that could become a school for students through eighth grade.
Natomas Unified School District in Sacramento – up to $40,000 worth of site-assessment services on 18.5 acres of vacant land pegged for a possible school.
Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley in Hayward – up to $60,000 worth of services to assess a former industrial area planned as the site of 10 affordable homes for lower income families. The proposed project is called “Sequoia Grove.”
The Sierra Institute in Crescent Mills – up to $149,000 of services to investigate contamination at a 28-acre abandoned sawmill site for redevelopment into a biomass project that provides jobs and processeslarge amounts of low-value timber – thus reducing risk of wildfires.

Access an overview of the selected TSI Sites.

Access the DTSC press release for the selected sites. [In progress.]

Check back here for information on future TSI Grants. TSI Application packages are typically posted in April.

Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Program

undefined The DTSC RLF Program establishes a revolving loan fund that provides loans to help developers, businesses, schools, and local governments clean-up and redevelop brownfields. This is a brownfields clean-up loan program administered through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA).

RLF Program Overview

RLF Application

Application Process (Read First)
Brownfields Loan Application
RLF Applicable Laws
Hazardous Substances Site Eligibility Evaluation (Available upon request)
Petroleum Site Eligibility Evaluation (Available upon request)

RLF Success Stories and Current Projects

Orvieto Family Complex (San Jose) (Video)
Townsend Street Development (San Francisco) (Video or PDF)
Jack Capon Villa Project (Alameda)
Third Street Project (San Francisco)
Miraflores Housing Development (Richmond)
Mission Bay Park P16 & P10 Project (City and County of San Francisco)
Cooley Landing Project (East Palo Alto)
Albion Riverside Park Project (Los Angeles)
Central Eureka Mine Project (Sutter Creek)

To establish your own RLF Program, refer to the U.S. EPA website.

For more information about the RLF Program, contact Maryam Tasnif-Abbasi at (714) 484-5489 or Maryam.Tasnif-Abbasi@dtsc.ca.gov.

Cleanup Loans and Environmental Assistance to Neighborhoods (CLEAN) Loan Program

This is a state-funded loan program that provides low-interest loans of up to $100,000 to conduct preliminary endangerment assessments and low-interest loans of up to $2.5 million for the cleanup or removal of hazardous materials where redevelopment is likely to have a beneficial impact on the property values, economic viability and quality of life of a community. Learn more about the CLEAN loan program.

Brownfields Tax Incentives

Originally signed into law in 1997 and extended through Dec. 31, 2011, the Brownfields Tax Incentive encourages the cleanup and reuse of brownfields. Under the Brownfields Tax Incentive, environmental cleanup costs are fully deductible in the year incurred, rather than capitalized and spread over time. Learn more about Brownfields Tax Incentives.