The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) has announced a total of $718,757 in Brownfield Redevelopment Area Grants (BRAG) for 36 remediation projects across the state. These grants are part of the Rural Brownfield Redevelopment Investment Act, which aims to protect the environment and create economic opportunities, particularly in rural areas. The act provides local governments and development boards with necessary resources for the investigation, cleanup, and redevelopment of blighted properties.
A brownfield is a property that is vacant or underutilized due to contamination, and its remediation minimizes threats to public health, safety, and the environment. Brownfield sites vary in size, location, age, and past use.
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BRAG grants are awarded in three categories: identification, investigation, and remediation. The current awards fall under the identification category, which allows applicants to receive up to $20,000 to conduct brownfield inventories. Grants for the other categories will be announced later.
Under the leadership of Gov. Bill Lee and the Tennessee General Assembly, the law aims to accelerate brownfield cleanup and redevelopment by providing direct funding. This initiative assists local governments in transforming blighted properties into community assets, creating jobs, increasing property values, enhancing tax revenue, and expanding the tax base. Brownfield properties can include old industrial facilities, former coal yards, junk yards, abandoned gas stations, and closed landfills.
“These grants address significant issues with blighted properties across Tennessee,” said Gov. Lee. “The process of cleaning up a contaminated property and turning it into an asset is an important step in environmental stewardship. We commend the communities who have gone through the application process.”
Lt. Gov. Randy McNally expressed his support, stating, “These Brownfield Redevelopment grants will turn liabilities into assets, allowing our local communities to bring economic growth to previously underused and blighted areas. I appreciate the work of Governor Lee, Commissioner Salyers, and all members of the General Assembly in making this possible.”
Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton added, “Brownfield Redevelopment grants are very helpful in aiding communities to turn existing commercial properties that have a perceived or real environmental issue into usable clean redevelopments. Assisting local entities in these endeavors benefits all Tennesseans.”
TDEC Commissioner David Salyers emphasized the importance of the initiative: “The Brownfield Redevelopment Area Grants are a key mechanism in enabling communities to repurpose contaminated properties. We are grateful to Governor Lee and the General Assembly for their commitment to this important initiative, and we look forward to the improvements that will come from this process.”
In this first year of the BRAG program, TDEC received overwhelming interest in the grants, addressing many high-quality and critical projects with the allocated funds. The following is a list of the awardees and their respective grant amounts:
| AWARDEE | County | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Fayette County | Fayette | $20,000 |
| City of Paris | Henry | $20,000 |
| South Central TN Development District | Wayne | $20,000 |
| South Central TN Development District | Moore | $20,000 |
| South Central TN Development District | Maury | $20,000 |
| South Central TN Development District | Marshall | $20,000 |
| South Central TN Development District | Lincoln | $20,000 |
| South Central TN Development District | Lewis | $20,000 |
| South Central TN Development District | Lawrence | $20,000 |
| South Central TN Development District | Hickman | $20,000 |
| South Central TN Development District | Giles | $20,000 |
| South Central TN Development District | Coffee | $20,000 |
| Town of Linden | Perry | $20,000 |
| Industrial Development Board of Perry Co. | Perry | $20,000 |
| Williamson County | Williamson | $20,000 |
| Putnam County | Putnam | $20,000 |
| Franklin County | Franklin | $20,000 |
| Anderson County | Anderson | $20,000 |
| South Central TN Development District | Bedford | $20,000 |
| Gibson County | Gibson | $20,000 |
| Trousdale County | Trousdale | $20,000 |
| Town of Saltillo | Hardin | $18,847 |
| Roane County | Roane | $19,910 |
| City of Elizabethton | Carter | $20,000 |
| City of Covington | Tipton | $20,000 |
| Greater Nashville Regional Council | Humphreys | $20,000 |
| Greater Nashville Regional Council | Cheatham | $20,000 |
| Greater Nashville Regional Council | Dickson | $20,000 |
| Greater Nashville Regional Council | Davidson | $20,000 |
| Greater Nashville Regional Council | Houston | $20,000 |
| Greater Nashville Regional Council | Montgomery | $20,000 |
| Greater Nashville Regional Council | Robertson | $20,000 |
| Greater Nashville Regional Council | Rutherford | $20,000 |
| Greater Nashville Regional Council | Sumner | $20,000 |
| Greater Nashville Regional Council | Stewart | $20,000 |
| Greater Nashville Regional Council | Wilson | $20,000 |
Source: Read Original Release
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