Brownfield grants awarded to five municipalities

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) announced five cities will share in 36 Brownfield Redevelopment Area Grants (BRAG) totaling $718,757 for remediation projects across the state. 

BRAG grants are derived from the Rural Brownfield Redevelopment Investment Act, which protects the environment and creates economic opportunities, especially in rural settings. The legislation empowers local governments and development boards with resources needed for investigation, cleanup, and redevelopment of blighted properties.  

A brownfield is a property vacant or underutilized due to contamination. Remediation minimizes threats to public health, safety, and the environment. Brownfield sites vary in size, location, age, and past use.  

Grants of $20,000 were awarded to the municipalities of Covington, Elizabethton, Linden and Paris while Saltillo received a grant of $18,847.  

Multiple grants were also awarded to some entities including 11 to the Greater Nashville Regional Council (GRNC) and the South Central TN Development District (SCTDD). Other awardees included Anderson, Fayette, Franklin, Gibson, Perry, Putnam, Roane, and Trousdale, Williamson counties.  

BRAG grants are awarded in three categories – identification, investigation, and remediation. The grants announced today are for the identification category, which allows applicants to apply for up to $20,000 to conduct brownfield inventories. Grants in the other categories will be announced later.   

Through the leadership of Gov. Bill Lee and the Tennessee General Assembly, the law provides direct funding to accelerate brownfield cleanup and redevelopment, assisting local governments in transforming blighted properties into community assets.  

 Brownfield redevelopment creates jobs, increases property values, increases tax revenue, and expands the tax base. Brownfield properties can include sites such as old industrial facilities, former coal yards/junk yards, abandoned gas stations, and closed landfills.  

“These grants address significant issues with blighted properties across Tennessee,” Lee said. “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.” 

“These Brownfield Redevelopment grants will turn liabilities into assets allowing our local communities to bring economic growth to previously underused and blighted areas,” said Lt. Gov. Randy McNally. “I appreciate the work of Governor Lee, Commissioner Salyers and all members of the General Assembly in making this possible.” 

“Brownfield Redevelopment grants are very helpful in aiding communities to turn existing commercial properties that have a perceived or a real environmental issue into usable clean redevelopments,” said Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton. “Assisting local entities in these endeavors benefits all Tennesseans.” 

“The Brownfield Redevelopment Area Grants are a key mechanism in enabling communities to repurpose contaminated properties,” said TDEC Commissioner David Salyers. “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. Many high-quality and critical projects are being addressed with these funds.