Gov. Jerry Brown has approved a transfer of 528 acres of former McClellan Air Force Base land to McClellan Business Park under a multi-agency agreement that allows a privatized cleanup of the area.

The deal involves the U.S. Air Force paying nearly $25 million to Sacramento County and McClellan Business Park to finish scrubbing it of toxins.

The agreement includes language that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, rather than the Air Force, assume the lead role of determining remaining cleanup decisions for the property in collaboration with state agencies.

The acreage includes industrial facilities, office buildings and vacant land.

"This is another major milestone for the cleanup and redevelopment of McClellan," said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA's regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest.

Officials said the private cleanup will be faster and more streamlined.

The 528 acres were contaminated during the base's tenure as a supply and repair depot, from 1936 until it closed in 2001. In 1987, the 3,000-acre installation was added to the EPA's National Priorities List due to contaminants in the soil and groundwater.