Contamination Cleanup and Investigation Grants

Contamination Cleanup and Investigation Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED)
Last Updated: March 18, 2026

Summary

The Contamination Cleanup and Investigation Grant Program, administered by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, provides crucial funding to assist communities in assessing and remediating contaminated sites. Covering up to 75% of eligible costs, the grants support both public and private site redevelopment. Eligible applicants include cities, counties, and economic development authorities, focusing on projects that enhance the local tax base or facilitate essential public facilities.

Overview

Background The Contamination Cleanup and Investigation Grant Program helps communities pay for assessing and cleaning up contaminated sites for private or public redevelopment. Grants pay up to 75% of the costs to investigate and clean up polluted sites. Both publicly and privately owned sites with known or suspected soil or groundwater contamination qualify. Cities, port authorities, housing and redevelopment authorities, economic development authorities, or counties are eligible.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Eligible applicants for this program are statutory or home rule charter cities, economic development authorities, housing and redevelopment authorities, counties, or port authorities. While these are the eligible applicants, the site can be either privately or publicly owned.What sites are eligible?A site must meet each of the following criteria to qualify for a Contamination Cleanup Grant:A grant may not be given to a municipality in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area unless it is participating in the Metropolitan Council Local Housing Incentives Program. For information on participating in the Local Housing Incentives Program, visit their website.A site may not be scheduled for funding under the Federal Superfund Program (U.S. Code 42 Sec. 9601 et seq.) or the Minnesota Environmental Response and Liability Act (Minn. Stat. 115B.01 to 115B.24) under the current or next fiscal year.A site must contain contaminants, pollutants or hazardous substances as referenced in Minn. Stat. 115B.02 or petroleum that is not eligible for reimbursement from the Minnesota Petrofund. A site must also have a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) approved RAP. Asbestos abatement in buildings does not qualify under this grant program unless it is part of demolition necessary for RAP implementation.Finally, to qualify for this grant program, it is expected that the site will be improved with buildings or other improvements within a reasonable period of time, and that these buildings or improvements will provide a substantial increase in the property tax base or will be used for an important publicly owned or tax-exempt facility. The final development of polluted sites may include, for example, commercial, industrial, office or housing development.Eligible CostsThe Contamination Cleanup Grant can pay up to 75% of the cost of cleaning contamination defined under the Minnesota Superfund law (Minn. Stat. 115B.02), as well as petroleum contamination.Cleanup CostsIncludes the costs of developing and implementing a response action plan but does not include implementation costs incurred before the award of a grant unless the application for the grant was submitted within 180 days after the response action plan was approved by the commissioner of the pollution control agency.Project CostsIncludes the cleanup costs for the site (see above definition), and the cost of related site acquisition, demolition of existing improvements, and installation of public improvements, if necessary, for the applicant to implement the response action plan.