Lawmakers Preserve Brownfield Remediation Program as Vital Tool for All Ohio Communities
July 2, 2025 Update:
The new state budget took effect on July 1, and we are happy to report the following regarding the brownfield program.
Provides $100M per year for the program ($1M reserved for each county in FY26)
Expands remediation to include demolition and infrastructure development
Eliminates “first come, first served” application process for competitive funds, requires Ohio Department of Development to review applications and award funds based on “economic merit”
Contains language about evaluating projects based on ‘the economic impact to the county, surrounding counties, and the state.’
We will push ODOD to consider all project types and end uses.
More informaiton and detail about the changes to the Brownfield Remediation Program is available on our Resources Page.
June 25, 2025 Update:
We continue to review the changes made last night to the state budget, particularly changes to the brownfield program. While we still need clarity on some issues, we can confirm changes that would have severely limited the use of funds have been removed.
$200 million will be available over the next 2 years to support brownfield remediation efforts across the state of Ohio for redevelopment of all times.
We are grateful to the Conference Committee for retaining the Brownfield Remediation Program as a tool Ohio’s communities can use to remediate & reactivate blighted brownfield sites. The General Assembly has been a long-time champion of this critical tool for community revitalization.
We applaud the Committee for ensuring it will continue to flexibly respond to the variety of sites and end uses found across the state.
June 11, 2025 Update:
Brownfield remediation funding is a critical tool for revitalizing Ohio’s communities. The Senate’s version of the budget makes dramatic changes to the Brownfield Remediation Program. These changes will prevent local governments and nonprofits from receiving grant funding, and limits the use of the dollars solely to economic development projects. Site assessments—a critical first step to addressing brownfields—would no longer be eligible uses of the funds under the Senate’s version.
The House’s version of the budget continues the flexibility the program has offered in the last four years. Since the Brownfield Remediation Program was created in 2021, 79% of all projects awards would not be classified as economic development and over $44 million have gone to assessments—the majority of those occurring in Appalachia and rural Ohio.
GOPC is urging the Conference Committee to support the House’s version of the BRP.
GOPC has prepared a letter calling on HB96 Conference Committee members to utilize the House’s version of the BRP. We encourage your organization to sign by this Friday, June 13th. The future of the Brownfield Remediation Program is at stake if the Senate’s language remains in place. Only by continuing to permit the program to address the full range of needs communities require when cleaning-up brownfield sites can we truly meet the full range of needs of the entire state of Ohio.
On June 3, the Ohio Senate Finance Committee released the substitute budget bill. GOPC, and brownfields stakeholders, are concerned about the proposal put forward by the Senate for the Brownfield Remediation Program. As a reminder, the House’s version that was passed and sent to the Senate included a $250M allocation to the Brownfield Remediation Program. The House did not make any programmatic changes.
The Senate has made the following changes to the Brownfield Remediation Program:
Limits brownfield grants only to economic development projects, and defines an economic development project to mean one developed by a for-profit entity that demonstrates site control, a plan for development, and documented support for the economic development project from the city or township. The language includes demolition as a remediation cost.
Allows for the use of grant funds intended for clean-up to be used to construct, upgrade, or extend infrastructure necessary to make a brownfield operational for a planned economic development project, including any other investments in the brownfield.
Does not permit the use of funds for assessments of brownfield sites – an important and necessary first step when seeking to clean-up and redevelop a brownfield site.
Provides a set-aside for the first year of the program for each county, and eliminates the first come, first serve granting for the second year. The language is unclear and confusing as to the nature of the projects these funds can be used for, but does suggest the intended use must also be for an economic development project and only for a clean-up project.
The grants are to be awarded on a rolling basis after review by the ODOD Director on a case by case basis that assesses the economic merit of the project to the county and surrounding counties, and the state. The language also requires the ODOD Director to ensure projects are not specific to one region of the state.
GOPC has concerns about the changes to the Brownfield Remediation Program that the Senate has put forth.
More than 200 of the sites have received assessment grants, totaling nearly $44 million. Unless those sites have a proposed economic development end use, this spending will go to waste as clean-up efforts will not be able to proceed under the program.
GOPC’s review of all BRP grants to date shows that, of the 631 total grant awards issued since 2021, 21% of project awards have fallen under the “economic development” category.
It would be a disservice to the people of Ohio to restrict ongoing funding only for projects that have an “economic development” end use, when the state is facing innumerable challenges, including a housing crisis where these sites could be redeveloped for future residential development (as 26% of current grant awards are planned).
GOPC will be advocating for changes to the language during Conference Committee, when both the House and the Senate come together in the coming weeks. GOPC will share opportunities for brownfields stakeholders to submit testimony during that time. GOPC encourages stakeholders to contact your local elected officials and share how the Senate’s programmatic changes may negatively impact potential brownfield projects in your work.