Despite Cuts, ISR Funding is Available for Brownfield Sites
I spoke with Scott Dunkelberger at PADCED today to see if he still has funds available for assessments and remediation grants. Scott says that the General Assembly transferred approximately $5 million from Growing Greener 2 into the ISR Fund, so he's in good shape. The most recent budget zeroed out approximately $500,000 that had been annually appropriated for assessments under Act 4, but there is still plenty of state money available for environmental assessments and remediation at brownfield sites in Pennsylvania. Applicants for grants must work with their local economic development agencies or redevelopment authorities, since only loan money is available to private developers. One piece of good news is that Scott says there really is no backlog at this point for ISR funding. When the economy was cranking, there often was a 6 to 12 month wait to get ISR funding, because there was always more funding requested than there was funding available. With the slowdown in the economy, there's no backlog now, so anyone with a viable brownfield redevelopment project should get in line now.
