The BIG Program is designed to be an easy and flexible way to help offset a portion of the costs incurred by a property owner or developer for eligible services and activities on a NYC Brownfield site.  Applicants must download grant applications and e-mail them to the BIG Grant Administrator.

For most projects, funds are disbursed retroactively, meaning that the grant is awarded after the Qualified Vendor has been retained and eligible services and activities have been performed.  To receive grant disbursement for completed tasks, the owner or developer must submit a grant requisition consisting of a statement of work, itemized invoices for eligible services and activities completed at the site, and documentation demonstrating that the work performed achieves minimum performance standards. For work conducted under an Enrollment Grant, work plans and reports submitted to meet requirements of the NYC Brownfield Cleanup Program (NYC BCP) satisfy the BIG Program minimum performance standards requirement.  To read more about the specific documentation and performance standards documentation for eligible services and activities, download the BIG program Technical Specifications. 

Once received, the requisition package will be reviewed by the BIG Program Administrator and when approved, the Grant Agreement will be executed.  The Grantee will then be paid by the BIG Program Administrator for each service according to the reimbursement allowance schedule up to the grant award limit.  It is expected that differences between the grant award amount and the total cost of services will be paid for by the Grantee.  Finally, the Grantee is required to complete a basic project questionnaire to be used to gauge the performance of the BIG Program.  Information requested will include items such as land area remediated, cost of planned development, jobs created, affordable housing units developed, and square footage for each use type of the redeveloped property.