Central Montana Brownfields Coalition

Revitalizing the Heart of Montana

The Central Montana Brownfields Coalition is a collaboration of Snowy Mountain Development Corporation (SMDC) and Montana Business Assistance Connection (MBAC), along with working partner Northern Rocky Mountain RC&D that was formed several years ago with a mission to see brownfields properties put back into use. The Coalition was awarded a $1.6 million dollar grant for a revolving loan fund for clean-up of brownfields properties by Environmental Protection Agency in 2009. That grant is administered by SMDC on behalf ot the Coalition.

The Coalition's revolving loan fund provides loans and subgrants to support cleanup activities for sites contaminated with hazardous substances and petroleum and covers 11 counties in Montana in SMDC's six-county area of Fergus, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Musselshell, Petroleum and Wheatland; NRMRCD's counties including Gallatin, Park and Meagher; and MBAC's Lewis and Clark and Broadwater Counties.

What is a Brownfields site?  A Brownfields site definition as found in Public Law 107-118 (H.R. 2869) - "Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act" signed into law January 11, 2002 is as follows:

"The term "Brownfield site" means real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant."

How Can We Help You?  Using the awarded RLF grant from EPA, the Coalition will lend money to public and private borrowers to finance cleanup at Brownfields properties.  Terms of the loan will vary based on community support for the project and the existing and projected viability of the RLF portfolio.  In general, sub-market loans are available to pay for cleanup, amortized in such a way to limit the upfront costs to the developer.  Payments of the principal and interest paid are made available to future borrowers to complete site cleanup at Brownfield sites.

A portion of the awarded RLF grant can be provided as a subgrant to entities eligible to apply for Brownfields grants.  This includes cities, counties, tribes, states, economic development partners, and quasi-units of local government, but not private developers.  RLF subgrant applicants must own the site for which they are seeking funding by the time the subgrant is made.  In addition, there is a subgrant limit of $200,000 per site, and no more than 40% of the total RLF award can be subgranted at any given time. 

RLF-funded cleanup projects (loan or subgrant projects) require a 20% cost share.  This match requirement will be met on a project by project basis using contributions of money from the borrower or subgrantee and project eligible in-kind labor, materials, or services.  The Coalition Partners can work with you to find creative ways to meet the match requirement.  For more information, please contact SMDC at (406) 535-2591 or email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Click on the following links to see two projects assisted by CMBC's RLF for Cleanup, including the Paris Laundry and Berg Property sites.

Paris Laundry Project

Berg Property