The City of Mason City was selected by the EPA for a Brownfields Assessment Grant in 2023. Grant funds will be used to conduct various Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments, prepare a brownfield site inventory, conduct community outreach activities that will fuel area-wide planning efforts. In all, the Brownfields Assessment Grant will kickstart redevelopment in some of Mason City’s most underserved areas.
The funds stem from $315 million allocated to the EPA in President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda, which aims to grow America’s economy by rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure, fueling private sector manufacturing, all while creating jobs and revitalizing our communities. This recent investment from President Biden is the highest funding level ever announced in the history of the Brownfields Program. “We’re working across the country to revitalize what were once dangerous and polluted sites in overburdened communities into more sustainable and environmentally just places that serve as community assets,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan.
“The brownfield contamination can really be damaging for development and makes the land just be a hole in our community. Many times those are right in our downtown, because that’s the oldest parts of our community. They’re right at the core of our community. The more that we can utilize sites and land that is in the middle of our community, the better it is for the use of the infrastructure and just for the density of the community and the thriving neighborhoods right at the core,” City Administrator of Mason City Aaron Burnett said.
Mason City’s Brownfield Assessment grant provides funding for area-wide plans. These plans will target an area where the biggest impact can be made, typically areas with multiple brownfield sites in close proximity.
