U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is awarding over $4.5 million to Nevada to expedite the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites that are abandoned or underutilized due to pollution from industrial use. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these sites can help communities access new land for economic development and increase their local tax base. The funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was signed into law by President Joe Biden in November 2021.
Oftentimes, brownfield sites lack the resources needed to initiate cleanup and redevelopment projects on polluted or contaminated land. Through EPA’s Brownfields Program, Nevada will receive funding for the following sites:
- $2,000,000 for the City of Las Vegas: This grant will be used to clean up Symphony Park, the largest brownfield site in Las Vegas. Remediation will position the site for redevelopment into a cultural center.
- $1,517,000 for Mineral County: This grant will clean the Babbitt Housing Area, a site originally built to house Naval Ammunition Depot workers and their families.
- $498,750 for the City of North Las Vegas: This grant will be used to conduct environmental site assessments in Downtown North Las Vegas, focusing on former gas stations, auto shops, and sites with chemical contamination.
- $500,000 for the Northern Nevada Development Authority: This assessment grant will support redevelopment for new housing and for industrial, commercial and public services in Northern Nevada.
