Brownfield grants now one program, to go through JobsOhio

The Clean Ohio Council has announced what it calls a "streamlined process" for funding brownfield projects.

The new process combines the Clean Ohio Revitalization Program and the Clean Ohio Assistance Fund into a single program, which will be managed through a collaboration of the Ohio Development Service Agency's (ODSA) Office of Redevelopment, JobsOhio, and the Clean Ohio Council.

All funding requests for environmental assessment, property acquisition, demolition, environmental cleanup and infrastructure improvements will originate with JobsOhio and its regional network partners in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Nelsonville.

JobsOhio and its partners will evaluate each proposal's economic benefits and make recommendations to ODSA's director of development and the Clean Ohio Council for review and potential approval.

In addition to the new approval process, the Clean Ohio Council also announced that grant funding will be available on a rolling cycle, rather than having specific funding rounds.

JobsOhio has been allocated $15 million for the program. Up to $3 million per project will be made available for cleanup activities, and $200,000 per project will be available for environmental assessment.

"This new structure will streamline the process for communities interested in Clean Ohio assistance," said Christiane Schmenk, director of ODSA, in a prepared release. "As we transition into this new model, our commitment remains the same. We want to provide outstanding customer service, create jobs and build strong communities making Ohio a place everyone can succeed."

Additional brownfield funding is available through the Brownfield Loan Program, which launched in 2011 and is administered by the ODSA Office of Redevelopment.

Previous reading on BC:
City-county coalition to apply for $600K in brownfield funds (11/27/12)
Hearing on Oakley Station remediation tonight (3/8/11)
$627M in Clean Ohio-financed projects viewable in online map (3/3/11)
Ordinance supports Blue Ash Airport cleanup (2/1/11)
Ohio Dept of Development launches new brownfield program (1/24/11)