The Environmental Protection Agency announced today that $197 million is now available to states, territories and tribes for assessment and cleanup of leaking underground petroleum tanks.

The funding, which is expected to enable 1,600 cleanups, can be used for overseeing or paying for the assessment and cleanup of leaking, federally regulated tanks for which "the responsible party is unknown, unwilling, unable (to conduct a cleanup), or the clean up is an emergency response," the EPA said.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed by President Barack Obama in February, appropriated the money from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund. The EPA refers to the nearly $200 million as LUST Recovery Act funding.

State and territories will receive $190.7 million of the funds in the form of cooperative agreements for shovel-ready sites.

The EPA will use the $6.3 million balance for assessment and cleanup of shovel-ready projects on tribal lands.