Brownfields

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) uses brownfield in two senses. Its brownfields landing page means abandoned commercial or industrial property whose reuse is complicated by potential or actual contamination; its Understanding Brownfields page means any property whose expansion, redevelopment or reuse is made harder by real or potential contamination, from a large former factory to a small abandoned gas station. Its Remediation and Redevelopment (RR) Program helps with liability, technical questions and money, and offers a first meeting with its brownfield staff, which it calls a Green Team meeting. DNR runs two funding programs paid for by EPA brownfield grants: Wisconsin Assessment Monies (WAM) for assessment, and the Ready for Reuse Loan and Grant Program for cleanup.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 lists state brownfield records among its standard sources. This handbook pairs no single Wisconsin list with that type: the pages read link no DNR list of brownfield sites as such. What they do link are lists of funding awards and map layers, below. The general reading of a brownfields listing is on the Brownfields page.

A brownfield property in Wisconsin may already have a file. DNR says a WAM contractor services award may cover Phase I and Phase II assessments as well as investigation and the planning of a remedy, so where a property received a WAM award, ask whether the file holds those reports. DNR's brownfield pages point to its liability tools, which are recorded elsewhere: the Voluntary Party Liability Exemption (VPLE) and the letters and exemptions on Liability clarification letters and exemptions.

Wisconsin Assessment Monies (WAM)

DNR says EPA has awarded it and its partners $5.3 million in brownfield assessment grants since 2010. WAM comes in two forms. In a contractor services award, DNR assigns one of its own contractors to do the work; DNR says properties in this form are generally under 10 acres with petroleum or hazardous substance contamination. In a community-managed award, a local government or tribal entity receives a subgrant, picks a qualified environmental professional and oversees the work. Local governments and tribes may apply for either; private parties only for contractor services.

A WAM property has to fit the federal brownfield definition. WAM is closed to a property whose contamination the applicant caused, to property on or proposed for the National Priorities List, to property under certain CERCLA orders or under federal control, and to work that another program, such as the Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Fund or DATCP's Agricultural Chemical Cleanup Program, can pay for. Petroleum sites face added tests, among them that no viable responsible party exists.

Ready for Reuse

Ready for Reuse pays for cleanup through zero-interest loans, generally for projects needing at least $250,000, and grants of up to $200,000 per property, with a match of at least 22 percent. DNR says only municipal entities may borrow, and grants go to local governments, nonprofits and tribes that own the property. The program is open only to applicants that did not cause, contribute to or worsen the contamination and that have a defense to CERCLA liability. Petroleum funding is open only where no viable responsible party can deal with the contamination.

Where to look a site up

• DNR's WAM page links a list of WAM awards that it labels current and whose file name carries 3-2026, and its Ready for Reuse page a list of awards for 2004 to 2025 and a list of Recovery Act awards. All three are PDFs this handbook did not open.
• The RR Sites Map has financial layers for sites that received DNR grants, loans or reimbursements, among them WAM, Ready for Reuse, Site Assessment Grants (awarded September 2000 to November 2009) and Green Space Grants (awarded April 2004 to March 2009). See RR Sites Map.
• BRRTS on the Web can limit a search by financial assistance tool.
• Brownfield staff for each region are on DNR's RR Program staff contacts page.

Getting the file

DNR sends site-specific questions on its funding and liability tools to its regional brownfield specialists, on the RR Program staff contacts page; for an activity in BRRTS, the BRRTS page names the staff member on the Activity Details page. DNR prefers records requests by email, to DNRRecordsResponse@wisconsin.gov, and accepts them in any format; see Public Records Request.

Sources

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown:

• Brownfields: Redevelopment Opportunities
• Understanding Brownfields and the Benefits of Redevelopment
• Financial Resources for Cleaning Up & Redeveloping Contaminated Properties
• Wisconsin Assessment Monies (WAM)
• Wisconsin Ready for Reuse Loan and Grant Program
• RR Sites Map layer information
• Bureau for Remediation and Redevelopment Tracking System (BRRTS)
• Remediation & Redevelopment (RR) Program staff contacts
• Public Records Request