Abandoned Gas Station Cleanup Grant

The Abandoned Gas Station Cleanup Grant is administered through a partnership between the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Department of Commerce Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations, and the Ohio Department of Development. The program is designed to address environmental contamination and economic stagnation caused by abandoned gas and service station properties across Ohio. These sites often present environmental hazards due to petroleum releases and can hinder redevelopment efforts in local communities. The initiative seeks to remove these barriers by providing financial support for environmental assessment and remediation activities, thereby enabling safe reuse and revitalization of impacted properties. The primary purpose of the grant is to assist political subdivisions and land banks in addressing contamination at former gas and service station sites that have documented petroleum releases classified as Class C by the Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations. A Class C designation indicates that the responsible party for the contamination is unable to pay for cleanup costs. The program prioritizes properties that are vacant and cannot be safely or productively reused in their current condition. Funding decisions are based on the potential for environmental improvement, community benefit, and economic redevelopment impact, as determined through an application scoring process. Funding is available for both assessment and cleanup activities. The program offers two grant types: Assessment and Corrective Action grants and Cleanup and Remediation grants. Assessment grants may cover environmental investigations and some remediation activities, while cleanup grants are focused solely on remediation efforts. Eligible uses include underground storage tank removal, hazardous substance cleanup, demolition, and site clearance. Environmental professional services are eligible but are subject to a cap, particularly for cleanup grants. Importantly, the program does not reimburse general professional fees outside of environmental services. Eligible applicants include political subdivisions such as counties, municipal corporations, townships, port authorities, and county land reutilization corporations organized under Ohio law. Applicants must either own the property or have a formal agreement with the property owner. A critical eligibility condition is that neither the applicant nor the current property owner may have caused or contributed to the contamination. This requirement ensures that the program supports remediation of legacy environmental issues rather than subsidizing responsible parties. The application process requires verification that the property meets the Class C designation, which can be confirmed through the Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations database or by submitting a determination request. Applicants must demonstrate that the site is unsuitable for reuse without intervention and provide supporting documentation as part of the submission. While the application period for the current funding cycle has closed, the program has been structured in a way that suggests potential future rounds, particularly given the ongoing need for remediation of similar sites across the state. Although no match is required to apply, applicants may improve their competitiveness by including private matching funds. The program also provides technical support through the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, which may offer environmental assessments at no cost to eligible entities. Contact with the Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations is encouraged for eligibility clarification, and additional support is available through state environmental and redevelopment offices. The timeline for awards and project completion is not explicitly defined in the provided material, but funding is intended to support projects through completion of assessment and remediation activities necessary for redevelopment.

Emphasize projects with strong environmental community and economic redevelopment impact as these are prioritized in scoring