The Ready for Reuse Petroleum program helps facilitate the cleanup and redevelopment of eligible brownfield sites contaminated by petroleum. Governmental entities, tribes, and non-profit organizations that own the site are eligible applicants for the grant program. Only municipalities are eligible to apply for the loan program. The grant or loan recipient must not have contributed to the contamination, and there should be no responsible parties able to pay for the cleanup who are also subject to environmental enforcement action. Loan and grant applicants must provide a minimum of 22% of the requested funds as a match contribution. Other state or local (but not federal) grants may be used as a match, provided that the grant and loan periods overlap, the grants are for eligible cleanup activities and those activities will be incurred during the same time period.

The site must meet the federal definition of an eligible brownfield, and the site or costs must be ineligible for the petroleum Environmental Cleanup Fund Award (PECFA) reimbursement.  There must be no federal enforcement action under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), obligation under the federal Oil Pollution Act (OPA), or use of federal leaking underground storage tank (LUST) funds at the site.

Eligible Activities can be paid for only during the DNR-approved loan or grant period:

• Cleanup actions.

• Preparation/Finalization of the Remedial Action Plan (RAP).

• Demolition (only if the demolition is required to access contaminated soils beneath a structure) or Site Preparation

• Asbestos Abatement (when asbestos removal is a necessary component of a pre-approved demolition) or Lead Mitigation Costs.

• Short-term Site Monitoring.

• Environmental Consulting Fees.

• Public Participation Costs.

• DNR Fees.

Please Note: All eligible activities must be conducted starting AFTER the recipient signs a financial agreement with the DNR and receives written approval from the DNR to begin work. In some situations, the DNR and the EPA may give pre-authorization for certain activities to take place. Work closely with the DNR on the timing of any project-related activities.

Ineligible Activities:

• Site Investigation and Phase I or II environmental assessments.

• Cleanup of hazardous substance contamination (unless commingled with petroleum products).

• Demolition (and associated asbestos abatement or removal) is not necessary to access the contaminated area to conduct the cleanup activities.

• Administrative costs, such as appraisal costs, meals, meeting costs, application costs and contingencies.

• Acquisition or relocation costs.

• Development costs that are not remedial activities.

• Public improvements or infrastructure costs.

• Expenses imposed by other regulatory programs (e.g. site erosion control plans, stormwater management, etc.) that are not related to the cleanup.

• Cost of compliance with any federal law, excluding compliance with laws applicable to the cleanup.

• Legal fees.

Notify the department immediately to re-verify eligibility if the remedy requiring demolition changes during the design/implementation phase. All demolition and asbestos abatement activities must be pre-approved by the DNR and the EPA.
 

• Assistance Type: Grant 

• Application Cycle: Continuous

• Min./Max Award:

  • The maximum grant amount is $200,000 per site. All loans are zero-interest and are generally awarded for projects that require amounts of $250,000 or more. Loan amounts are subject to available funding.

• Contact and/or Application Link: 

  • ​Gena Larson, NR Program Coordinator 608.400.9215  Gena.Larson@wisconsin.gov

​

Below attached to the button is the link for more information regarding this program from the WDNR website. Follow this link to learn more.

​​​​