DECD Opens $25M Brownfield Grant Funding Round

The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development is now accepting applications for Round 24 of the state’s Municipal Brownfield Grant program.

DECD is also offering with companion funding under the Targeted Brownfield Development Loan Program and the Brownfield Area-Wide Revitalization Planning Grant Program.

The new funding round makes a combined $25 million available to municipalities, economic development agencies, and other eligible applicants to investigate, remediate, and redevelop contaminated properties.

Applications are due by noon on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, with funding decisions expected by November or December of this year, pending approval from the State Bond Commission.

The Municipal Brownfield Grant Program remains the centerpiece of the round, offering grants to municipal applicants to cover costs tied to assessing, cleaning up, and preparing brownfield sites for reuse.

DECD’s Office of Community Development has structured the program to encourage public-private partnerships, allowing eligible municipalities to pass grant funds through to private development partners on qualifying projects.

Redevelopment

Alongside the municipal grants, the Targeted Brownfield Development Loan Program offers low-interest financing to brownfield purchasers and certain current owners.

The BAR Planning Grant Program is designed to help municipalities, land banks, and regional development agencies redevelop neighborhoods or districts burdened by multiple brownfield sites, rather than funding a single property at a time.

Connecticut has cycled through more than 20 rounds of brownfield redevelopment funding, with Round 22 awards announced in December 2025 and Round 23 applications closing this past March.

Officials cite brownfield cleanup as a tool for turning idle industrial and commercial sites into sources of housing, jobs, and local tax revenue.

Officials cite brownfield cleanup as a tool for turning idle, contaminated industrial and commercial sites into sources of housing, jobs, and local tax revenue, particularly in the state’s more economically distressed communities.

The Round 24 funding coincides with a separate, newly launched initiative targeting “greyfield” properties—previously developed sites, such as vacant retail centers or office parks, that have fallen into disuse or significant decline but were never environmentally contaminated.

DECD is accepting applications for this inaugural greyfield pilot round through August 5, 2026.

The department will hold informational sessions for prospective applicants in the coming weeks, consistent with its practice in prior funding rounds.