Livable Communities Environmental Site Investigation & Cleanup

Livable Communities environmental investigation and cleanup activities are a subset of activities eligible for funding under development projects. Review project eligibility, application deadlines, application limits, scoring criteria, and grant terms on the Development Projects page.

For all environmental site investigation and cleanup activities, the site must:
  • Have suspected or known contamination that is perceived or known to exceed safe standards set by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA), or Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) for the intended use of the property
  • Not have a responsible party or likely responsible party capable of carrying out the investigation or cleanup in the foreseeable future
  • Have a future planned property use that is taxable.
MINNEAPOLIS-BASED SITES: The City of Minneapolis has a pre-application process, with earlier due dates, that is required for projects seeking site investigation and cleanup funding in the city of Minneapolis. Visit the City of Minneapolis website to learn more.

Development projects (See Application Limits and Eligible Activities on the Development Projects page) apply for a wide range of activities spanning across different stages of development; specific activities related to site investigation and clean up are expanded upon here.

Eligible site investigation activities that are reimbursable under a Livable Communities grant include:
  • Creating or updating environmental investigation documents including:
    • Phase I environmental site assessment  
    • Phase II environmental site assessment  
    • Phase II environmental site assessment work plans  
    • Hazardous building materials, asbestos or lead based paint assessments that meet state standards established by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as well as federal standards including Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule
    • Development of a Response Action Plan (RAP) for submission to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) or Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA)  
    • Abatement plans  
    • Asbestos emissions control plans (ECP)  
  • Limited demolition as necessary to assess contamination
  • Environmental oversight
Eligible cleanup activities that are reimbursable under a Livable Communities grant include:
  • If completed since the last application due date, site investigation activities (see above) 
  • Contaminated soil remediation 
  • Groundwater remediation 
  • Soil vapor mitigation 
  • Hazardous building materials abatement or mitigation (asbestos and/or lead-based paint only), including :
    • Abatement area containment   
    • Implementing asbestos emissions control plan   
    • Asbestos removal or encapsulation   
    • Lead-based paint removal or stabilization   
    • Loading, transport, and disposal of asbestos and/or lead-based paint wastes   
    • Limited demolition as necessary to access contamination   
  • Environmental oversight 
For additional information on eligible site investigation and cleanup costs, view the grant administration guide on the Current Grantees page.

The Met Council Livable Communities program consults with external partners, including the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), Hennepin and Ramsey Counties, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and other when considering requests for site investigation and cleanup. No applicant may apply for more than 50% of the total available funding for environmental site investigation and cleanup. If requests exceed available funding, no more than 75% of the environmental site investigation and cleanup funds will be awarded to projects within the Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

Technical Assistance Funding Resources State Licensed Contractors

Contact

Program Coordinator

Marcus Martin (he/him)
[email protected]