Project Financing

American Trails Funding

The Trails Capacity Program  is an initiative of the Trails Move People Coalition and American Trails.  It invests in building a nationwide trail community in hopes to create a low-maintenance connected system.   This program supports and assists partners with all aspects of trail projects.   The funding for a project can range from 1K  to 10K  and must be spent in two years.

The Trail Fund - Legacy Trails Grant Program  resulted from a partnership between American Trails and the U.S. Forest Service.  It aims to create more resilient national forests and grasslands by protecting, restoring, and maintaining watersheds.  It  targets nonprofit organizations and non-federal agencies, applications open in the fall and are awarded in early spring.   Grant funding for projects depends on size and can range from 5K up to 100K and must be spent in two years.

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EPA Brownfield Grants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers the largest selection of grants specific to brownfield redevelopment.

• Brownfield Assessment Grants: Provides funding for brownfield inventory, assessment, planning activities, preparation of site-specific cleanup plans, and community engagement.  Includes community-wide assessment grants and site-specific assessment grants.  State, local, and tribal government, general purpose units of local government, regional council or redevelopment agencies, and quasi-governmental agencies are eligible to apply.  
• Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grants: Provides funding to provide loans and sub-grants to carry out cleanup of brownfield sites.  They are used to provide no-interest or low-interest loans for eligible brownfield cleanups, sub-grants for cleanups, and other eligible programmatic costs.  One can apply as an individual entity or as part of a RLF Coalition.  State, local, and tribal government, general purpose units of local government, regional council or redevelopment agencies, and quasi-governmental agencies are eligible to apply.
• Cleanup Grants: Provide funding for cleanup activities at a single site or multiple sites. Includes program reporting, cleanup oversight, and environmental monitoring.  States, local, and tribal governments, general purpose units of local government, regional council or redevelopment agencies, quasi-governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations are eligible to submit one cleanup grant each cycle.  One must own the property at the time of application and have completed All Appropriate Inquiry (AAI) at the time of transfer.
  
• Multipurpose (MP) Grants: Funding can be used for eligible assessment and cleanup activities with proposed target area: district, corridor, neighborhood, or shared planning area.  Best for communities that have identified a discrete area with one or more brownfield sites.  Grant applicants must demonstrate capacity to conduct a range of eligible activities, such as, preparing brownfield inventories, site assessments, community engagement activities, developing cleanup and reuse plans, and an overall plan for revitalization.  
• Job Training (JT) Grants: Enables local governments, nonprofits, and organizations to recruit, train, and place under employed and unemployed residents within areas impacted by brownfield sites.  
• States and Tribal Response Program Grants: This program empowers states, tribes, and communities in economic development to prevent, assess, clean up, and reuse brownfield sites.

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Other Federal Programs

The Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) and partners offer assistance related to financing brownfield redevelopment through webinars, project response teams, their financing toolkit, and other resources.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) offers Community Development Block Grants annually to states, cities, and communities.  These are funding tools that address community and economic development needs including a suitable living environment, decent housing, and by expanding economic opportunities.  Eligible grantees are principal cities of metropolitan statistical areas, other metropolitan cities with populations of at least 50,000, qualified urban counties with populations of at least 200,000, and states in insular areas.  The section 108 Loan Guarantee Program provides Community Development Block Grant recipients with the ability to leverage their annual grant allocation to access low-cost, flexible financing for economic development, housing, public facility, and infrastructure projects.