Key Takeaways
This year’s National Brownfields Training Conference brought together thousands of practitioners, policymakers, developers, and local government leaders to share network and share strategies for transforming brownfields into vibrant, community-responsive places. This year’s conference focused on the future of brownfields not only related to federal funding and programming; housing, community revitalization, artificial intelligence, and federal policy shifts took center stage as the brownfields field continues to broaden and meet the needs facing the nation’s communities.
Federal Funding & Advocacy Efforts
Over the past five years, investment in brownfields grants at the federal level has been unprecedented with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) injecting $1.5 billion into federal brownfields grants. BIL also increased the cap for assessment and cleanup awards ($1.2 million and $4 million, respectively) and eliminated the 20% match that was required. This allowed more larger, and more, projects to be funded.
In May 2025, the EPA awarded $267 million in brownfields grants for assessments, cleanups, and revolving loan funds. The May announcement began the sunset of the BIL’s significant investment, and now brownfields stakeholders look to the future funding opportunities to continue the great work.
The theme at the National Conference highlighted that the EPA Brownfields Program will primarily rely on annual congressional appropriations (as it has prior to BIL), which have averaged $160 million per year over the past decade. However, these investments are not guaranteed and require continued advocacy from brownfields stakeholders to federal elected officials.
Senate legislation reauthorizing the Brownfields Program through FY2030 has been introduced. This advanced unanimously out of committee and will continue to move through the Senate. Over the next few months, the conversation about federal funding will continue.
Earlier this summer, The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA) did make changes that enhanced brownfield redevelopment at the federal level through key financing tools, including LIHTC, NMTC, and Opportunity Zones. This could create more predictable funding pipelines for housing and community revitalization related to brownfields redevelopment; however, continued investment in the USEPA Brownfield Grant program is essential to allowing projects to utilize these new tools.
Housing-Centered Redevelopment Is Gaining National Momentum
For years, brownfield redevelopment has expanded from an environmental strategy to one viewed as the key to economic and community development – especially around housing. Numerous sessions focused on addressing the “missing middle” in housing production, and how to utilize financing tools to promote housing – at all price points – in all parts of the nation.
Infill & Missing Middle: Cities are leveraging brownfields for attainable housing through zoning reform and creative financing. Many case study examples highlighted the use of capital stacking to establish new housing that is single-family, multi-family, and mixed-use. Some highlights include Michigan, Missouri, and New York as speakers shared models that use tax increment financing and state brownfield tools to bridge cost gaps. Similar investments are happening in Ohio with the state’s Brownfield Remediation Program that has invested more than $900 million in the state over the past five years.
Federal Alignment: USEPA and HUD emphasized aligning remediation grants with housing goals, particularly in underserved urban and rural areas. Panels shared tools on how communities can think through federal grants to achieve their local goals of increasing housing production.
Artificial Intelligence in Brownfields Planning
AI took a front seat at the National Brownfields Conference through panel sessions, and as the topic of the conference’s keynote. Speakers highlighted how the use of AI can enhance brownfield remediation and redevelopment, and the latest trends with AI and real estate development.
AI & Data Centers: Speakers shared how Congress is exploring opportunities for brownfields to host energy-intensive AI infrastructure, with calls for faster site assessments and liability streamlining.
Predictive Mapping: AI tools are being used to identify and prioritize redevelopment sites, combining machine learning with human oversight to improve accuracy in identifying vacant and deteriorated properties and formulating a redevelopment strategy.
The 2025 National Brownfields Conference offered case studies about successful brownfield remediation and redevelopment and highlighted the future trends in the field, and this blog is just a brief overview of the four-days of content that was offered. While the future of federal grant dollars does not mirror the historic investment made over the past five years, there is bipartisan, multi-sector support that brownfields are integral to economic and community development in all communities. It is promising to see so many brownfield stakeholders gather to network, learn, and engage.