New Revolving Loan Fund for Brownfields Opens Pathways for Economic Renewal Across Arizona
The Brownfields RLF program aims to create opportunities to return contaminated property to productive use.”— Robin Romano, Board Chairperson of the Arizona Finance AuthorityPHOENIX, AZ, UNITED STATES, August 10, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Arizona Finance Authority (AFA) today announced the rollout of a new Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Program (BF-RLF), designed for initiatives centered on remediation efforts at environmentally polluted sites. The program receives its funding from a $1 million award provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which will be lent to eligible applicants to carry out environmental cleanup work on contaminated properties within Arizona.
A brownfield site refers to a property where redevelopment or reuse is made difficult due to the existence—or potential existence—of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. Such locations typically include former industrial, commercial, or manufacturing sites, but they may also encompass abandoned gas stations, dry cleaners, warehouses, rail yards, and landfills that are no longer operational. Although brownfield sites are not necessarily heavily contaminated, even properties with minor contamination require a remediation process (determined through a preliminary site assessment) before the land can be repurposed safely.
Cleaning and restoring brownfield sites and preparing them for secure redevelopment plays a key role in safeguarding public health against possible exposure to hazardous materials, as well as protecting the surrounding environment. Furthermore, adaptive reuse of these sites through new businesses helps breathe new life into the communities where they are located and creates opportunities for projects that serve those communities. Loan funds from the BF-RLF may be made available to eligible nonprofits, private for-profit entities, and local and Tribal governments, for use on environmental cleanup activities, which include:
Paying for costs to treat, remove, or mitigate environmental contamination;
Fees associated with hazardous material or waste disposal;
Confirmation sampling or other sampling related to cleanup; and
Engineering controls.
“The Brownfields RLF program aims to create opportunities to return contaminated property to productive use,” said Robin Romano, Board Chairperson of the Arizona Finance Authority. “The opportunity to replace an environmentally contaminated site with a clean site ready for redevelopment offers communities across the state with the chance to safely build new businesses that will deliver positive economic impacts by creating new jobs that benefit the residents of the local communities where these properties are located.”
“By coupling this new funding with ADEQ’s Voluntary Remediation Program, we can remove the financial barriers to environmental cleanups while ensuring these sites are remediated to the highest safety standards for our communities,” said Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) Waste Programs Division Director Julie Riemenschneider.
AFA will begin accepting applications on a rolling basis starting August 1, 2026, providing qualifying applicants with low-interest loans to carry out approved cleanup activities. To access the application and determine whether they are eligible for BF-RLF funding, potential applicants should review the program guidelines. To qualify, the site must be enrolled in the ADEQ Voluntary Remediation Program.
The BF-RLF Program will distribute funding to eligible nonprofits, private for-profit entities, and local and Tribal governments through a competitive loan process. Successful applicants must not be potentially liable under section 107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.
For more information on the AFA and its programs, visit afa.az.gov.
Rachael Clifford
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