Hennepin County Funds for Brownfields
By: SUSAN D. STEINWALL
November 2002
Clean-up funds from the Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development and the United States Environmental Protection Agency are well known to brownfield developers. Closer to home, Hennepin County has developed several funding options for investigating and cleaning up brownfield sites located in its borders.
The Environmental Response Fund provides grants for investigating and cleaning up contaminated property in Hennepin County that is not eligible for reimbursement by Minnesota's Petrofund. (The grant money comes from an extra penny charged on State Deed and Mortgage Registry taxes.) Grants are awarded on a competitive basis, and priority is given to sites where the end uses are public, residential, affordable housing or the property is brownfield in-fill. While eligible applicants include public entities, private companies, and private individuals, a resolution of support from the governing body of the municipality in which the site is located must accompany each application.
Hennepin County also operates a revolving low-interest loan fund for cleaning up its brownfield sites. This program is funded by a grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Eligible borrowers include private businesses, non-profits, or public entities who are not responsible for the contamination at the property.
In addition, Hennepin County is initiating a suburban brownfield assessment program. Under this program, Hennepin County will contract with environmental consultants to conduct assessments in its suburbs. The assessments are available to municipal governments only. The municipality must own or have an interest in a site to be eligible, but the city cannot be responsible for the contamination at the site.