Program Updates

State Announces a Further $86.1 Million in Brownfield Remediation Grants

December 4: The Ohio Department of Development today announced $86.1 million in state support to help clean up and redevelop 81 hazardous brownfield sites in 46 counties.

The Ohio Department of Development is awarding the funding through the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program, which was created by the Ohio General Assembly 2021 through the advocacy of the Greater Ohio Policy Center. Today’s announcement includes approximately $82.1 million for 65 cleanup/remediation projects and $4 million for 16 assessment projects.

Since the launch of the program, the Department of Development has awarded $636 million to support 626 projects in 86 counties. 

Funds awarded today will help assess and clean up industrial, commercial, and institutional brownfield sites that are abandoned, idled, or underutilized due to a known or potential release of hazardous substances or petroleum. Following site remediation, properties can be redeveloped to revitalize neighborhoods and attract new economic development.  

The full list of awards from today’s announcement can be found here.

State Announces 61 New Brownfield Remediation Projects

November 19: The Ohio Department of Development today announced $58.2 million in state support to help clean up and redevelop 61 hazardous brownfield sites in 33 counties.

The Ohio Department of Development is awarding the funding through the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program, which was created by the Ohio General Assembly at the urging of the Greater Ohio Policy Center in 2021. Today’s announcement includes approximately $55.9 million for 46 cleanup/remediation projects and nearly $2.4 million for 15 assessment projects.

Since the launch of the program, more than $560 million to support 550 projects in 86 counties.

Funds awarded today will help assess and clean up industrial, commercial, and institutional brownfield sites that are abandoned, idled, or underutilized due to a known or potential release of hazardous substances or petroleum. Following site remediation, properties can be redeveloped to revitalize neighborhoods and attract new economic development. 

The full list of awards from today’s announcement can be found here.

State Announces More Than $55 Million for Demolition and Brownfield Remediation Projects

November 4: The Ohio Department of Development announced more than $55 million in continued support for brownfield remediation and building demolition projects across the state.

The new Ohio Brownfield Remediation grants announced today total $22.7 million to clean up and redevelop 27 hazardous brownfield sites in 19 counties.

Since the launch of the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program in 2021, Development has awarded more than $510 million to support 489 projects in 85 counties. 

The new Ohio Demolition and Site Revitalization grants announced today total $33.2 million to demolish 1,091 vacant, dilapidated buildings in 65 counties.

Since the launch of the Ohio Demolition and Site Revitalization Program in 2021, more than $303 million in grants have been awarded to support more than 6,000 demolition projects in every county in the state.  

The full list of awards from today’s announcements can be found here.

State awards an additional $29M in Brownfield Remediation Program grants, $22M in Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program Grants

October 15: The Ohio Department of Development announced a further $29M in grants from the Brownfield Remediation Program. Today's brownfield grant awards were announced for 36 sites in 23 counties. Since 2021 Ohio has awarded more than $490M to clean-up 462 brownfields in 84 of 88 counties.

These funds are making a tremendous difference throughout Ohio. The Brownfield program is an excellent example of the type of programs we need to be supporting long-term to help equip local leaders to offer the housing, downtowns, amenities, & economic opportunities Ohio needs.

The full list of awards from today’s announcements can be found here.

State announces first Grants from the 2024-25 Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program

August 9, 2024: Earlier today, Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Development announced more than $100 million in grants to 61 projects in 22 counties. These awards constitute the first allocations from the state's $350 million investment in brownfield remediation grants as part of the 2024-2025 state budget. 

Following an announcement earlier today by Governor Mike DeWine, Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) released the following statement in reaction of the recent recipients of  Brownfield Remediation Program (BRP) grants. 

"As one of the leading advocates for the investment in brownfield revitalization, Greater Ohio Policy Center is thrilled to see that the recipients of Brownfield Remediation Program grants have been announced," said Jason Warner, Director of Strategic Engagement at Greater Ohio Policy Center. 

"This program, when fully executed, will provide millions of dollars to communities throughout Ohio, and along with millions more in leveraged funds from the local governments and the private sector, we can continue the important work begun three years ago, eliminating these scourges of economic progress across the state of Ohio," said Warner. 

"By seizing the opportunity to remediate the thousands of environmentally contaminated brownfield sites across the state, Ohio has now has the potential to generate millions of dollars in additional tax revenue, provide jobs, create new housing options, and unlock new endeavors in economic development" said Aaron Clapper, Director of Outreach and Projects at Greater Ohio Policy Center. “These former factories, drycleaners, and hospitals that once discouraged investment and created barriers to development, will instead become opportunities for progress and renewal across the state.”

"Thanks to the leadership of Governor DeWine, the Ohio Department of Development, and leading advocates from both parties in the Ohio General Assembly, Ohio has asserted its brownfields leadership role through the state’s significant investment in the Brownfield Remediation Program," said Warner. “GOPC and brownfield stakeholders across the state look forward to a continued investment in brownfields redevelopment.”

The full list of projects receiving grants was made available today by the Ohio Department of Development, and is available on the Revitalizing Ohio's Brownfields website. 

State announces first Grants from the 2024-25 Ohio Building Demolition & Site Revitalization Program

August 7, 2024: Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik today announced that more than 1,000 vacant, dilapidated buildings will be demolished to make room for new economic development in nine Ohio counties.

The Ohio Department of Development is awarding $67.3 million in funding from the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program to tear down 1,277 blighted structures in Butler, Clinton, Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Logan, Lucas, Muskingum, Preble, and Richland counties.

The Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program is funded by the Ohio General Assembly as part of the current operating budget.  All of Ohio's 88 counties were eligible for at least $500,000, with the remaining funds awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.  Additional grant recipients will be announced in the coming months. 

Since the launch of the program, the Ohio Department of Development has awarded more than $200 million in grants to support nearly 5,000 demolition projects in every county in the state.

Third Ohio Building Demolition & Site Revitalization Program Grants Announced

599 additional structures in 15 counties will be demolished with support from the program, bringing the total number of blighted structures to nearly 3700 in 87 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

January 27, 2023: Today, the Ohio Department of Development announced the third round of grant recipients under the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program. The program, created in 2021 to help local communities demolish dilapidates commercial and residential buildings, will lead to the removal of 3,699 structures in 87 counties. This third announcements follows the awarding of 825 grants in October of 2022, and a further 2,275 projects announced in early December 2022.

The full list of grant recipients and project sites from all three rounds can be found on the links below.

Second, Third Round of Brownfield Remediation Fund Grants Announced

$88 million in state support for 123 brownfield remediation project grants announced to help clean up hazardous and underutilized sites across the state of Ohio.

December 16, 2022: Today, the Ohio Department of Development released the final list of awards for the Brownfield Remediation Fund, which is designed to clean up and prepare hazardous brownfield sites for redevelopment. The projects announced today can be found in 35 counties.

This brings the total number of awards announced across three rounds of applications to nearly $350 million, the full allocation of funding for the program created by the Ohio General Assembly in 2021 as part of the state budget. A total of 313 Assessment and Clean Up Grants have been awarded to 83 of the 88 counties in the state (the five counties which did not receive any funds submitted no requests for funding).

The full list of grants awarded in the three rounds can be found at the links below.

Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) has been the leading organization advocating for the investment in brownfield remediation by the State of Ohio, championing the issue since the end of the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund in 2013. We applaud the work of the State of Ohio to commit this funding towards brownfield identification and remediation, and look forward to continuing to work with lawmakers in the next legislative session to ensure we continue to eradicate these blighted properties across the State of Ohio.

Second Ohio Building Demolition & Site Revitalization Program Grants Announced

2,277 blighted and vacant structures in 42 counties will be demolished to pave the way for new economic development and housing opportunities across the state.

December 6, 2022: Today, the Ohio Department of Development announced the second round of competitive grant awards for the Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program. A total of $35,386,080 in grants were announced today, on top of the previously announced grants totaling $22,696,642.00 which was announced in October. In July, ODOD announced the distribution of county set-aside funds to 87 of Ohio’s 88 counties, totaling $42,198,924.00. All together, a total of $100,281,646 out of a total appropriation of $150,000,000 has been announced. A total of $49,718,354 still remains to be announced, with 15 counties yet to be announced.

First Ohio Building Demolition & Site Revitalization Program Grants Announced

825 structures will be demolished in 30 counties utilizing $22.6 million in grants (with 127.4 million more in grant funds to be announced at a later date.

October 28, 2023: Earlier today, the Ohio Department of Development announced the first recipients of grants from the Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program, the concurrent program to the brownfield fund. 30 counties received grants totaling $22.6 million. A total of $150 million was made available for the program in the state budget in 2021.

These funds, along with those available through the brownfield remediation fund, are critical to community redevelopment efforts across Ohio. We look forward to seeing future awards announcements from both programs. GOPC is already looking ahead to the next budget and look forward to working with policymakers to ensure these two programs receive additional support to continue the work already underway to remediate and revitalize these sites, as well as to unlock new opportunity through their redevelopment.

First BRF Recipients Announced in Mansfield

Following an announcement by Governor Mike DeWine, Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) released the following statement in reaction of the first announced recipients of Brownfield Remediation Fund (BRF) grants.

April 26, 2023: "As one of the leading advocates for the investment in brownfield revitalization, Greater Ohio Policy Center is thrilled to see that the first recipients of Brownfield Remediation Fund grants have been announced," said Jason Warner, Director of Strategic Engagement at Greater Ohio Policy Center.

"This program, when fully executed, will provide millions of dollars to communities throughout Ohio, and along with millions more in leveraged funds from the local governments and the private sector, we can begin the process of eliminating these scourges of economic progress across the state of Ohio," said Warner.

Today, Governor DeWine announced the first 78 projects to receive grants from the Brownfield Remediation Fund (BRF). The announcement included $5.5 million for 41 assessments and $54.8 million for 37 clean-up projects in 35 counties.

"By seizing the opportunity to remediate the thousands of environmentally contaminated brownfield sites across the state, Ohio has now has the potential to generate millions of dollars in additional tax revenue, provide jobs, create new housing options, and unlock new endeavors in economic development" said Aaron Clapper, Senior Manager of Outreach and Projects at Greater Ohio Policy Center. “These former factories, drycleaners, and hospitals that once discouraged investment and created barriers to development, will instead become opportunities for progress and renewal across the state.”

"Thanks to the leadership of Governor DeWine, the Ohio Department of Development, and leading advocates from both parties in the Ohio General Assembly, Ohio has asserted its brownfields leadership role through the state’s significant investment in the Brownfield Remediation Fund," said Warner. “GOPC and brownfield stakeholders across the state look forward to a continued investment in brownfields redevelopment.”

The Brownfield Remediation Fund is a one-time, $350 million grant program created in the 2021 state budget to fund the clean-up and redevelopment of brownfield sites across the state of Ohio. Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) has been the leading advocate for dedicated funding for brownfield clean-up since the end of the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund (CORF) in 2013.

The full list of projects receiving grants from the first round announced on April 26 is below.