EPA May Lose Track of Brownfield Program, Watchdog Audit Warns

The EPA may lose sight of its brownfields program due to a big boost in funding, paired with a dwindling staff, according to the agency’s internal watchdog.

The 2021 infrastructure law gave the program to clean up contaminated sites a $1.5 billion infusion, spread out over several years until the money is used up. The new level of $300 million per year nearly doubles the amount the brownfield program had been getting.

But the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization only has 18 full-time employees at most, the agency’s inspector general said in a Thursday report. ...