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EPA AWARDS SUPPLEMENTAL ASSISTANCE BROWNFIELDS PILOT GRANTS IN THE SOUTHEAST

Release Date: 04/13/2000
Contact Information: Dawn Harris, EPA Media Relations, 404-562-8421

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it has awarded seven Supplemental Assistance grants for Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilots in the southeast. The recipients are: Birmingham, AL; Charlotte, NC; Clearwater, FL; Escambia County, FL; Miami, FL; Miami-Dade County, FL; and Southeast FL. Nationally, fifty-four supplemental assistance grants were awarded. “The Agency’s financial commitment is intended to assist municipalities in their efforts to bring together local community groups, investors, lenders, developers, and other stakeholders to develop their own plans to turn economically abandoned areas into environmentally safe, economically attractive areas,” said John H. Hankinson, Jr., EPA Regional Administrator. EPA defines brownfields as abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. EPA’s Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is an organized commitment to help communities revitalize such properties environmentally and economically, mitigate potential health risks and restore economic vitality to areas where brownfields exist. Experience gained from the brownfields assessment pilot, along with partnerships and outreach activities, is providing a growing knowledge base to help direct the Agency’s Brownfields Initiative. BIRMINGHAM, AL $150,000 Birmingham’s goal is to return abandoned industrial lands and buildings in the target areas to productive, environmentally conscious uses. The Pilot will use the supplemental assistance to continue to increase redevelopment activities of these communities, provide additional employment opportunities for community residents, identify new land for business development, and increase tax revenues for the City of Birmingham and the North Birmingham Community. CHARLOTTE, NC $100,000 Charlotte’s goal is to improve its older business areas and neighborhoods. The Pilot will coordinate the supplemental assessment efforts with the Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund program to facilitate completion of the cleanup and redevelopment of a mix of large developer projects and smaller projects handled by small-to medium-sized businesses. CLEARWATER, FL $50,000/Greenspace $50,000 Clearwater’s ultimate objective is to eliminate potential health and safety hazards by having the Clearwater Brownfields Area (CBA) sites cleaned up and returned to productive reuse, to benefit the city and its citizens. Clearwater will use the Pilot to further this goal by preparing reuse plans and involving the stakeholders, including affected communities, in the cleanup and redevelopment planning process. The Pilot will select sites to target out of 217 potential properties in the CBA. Clearwater will use the greenspace funding to support at least three greenspace creation and improvement projects. They include Stevenson Creek Ecosystem Restoration Project and Associated Park Land, creation of urban parks, open space, a town pond, and a community center. ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FL $100,000 Escambia County’s Pilot will address environmental issues and barriers by providing additional assessments in the brownfields area and encouraging reinvestment and redevelopment. The long-term goal is to redevelop the Palafox Corridor into a commercial, light industrial, and/or eco-commerce center. MIAMI, FL $135,000/Greenspace $50,000 Miami’s objectives are to further establish brownfields as an integral part of sustainable economic development, to establish the City of Miami’s brownfields redevelopment planning process as a model, and to build on existing and create new partnerships. The city will use the supplemental assistance to inventory sites in the targeted area, to coordinate assessment, identification, characterization, and cleanup planning for brownfields properties. Miami will use the greenspace funding to target the Lummus Park neighborhood along Biscayne Bay and the Miami River. In conjunction with other efforts, the city intends to create a continuous system of public waterfront walkways that will provide an attractive and safe connector system of bicycle, pedestrian, transit routes, and water taxis to link jobs, water amenities, and spur further economic development along its route. MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FL $65,000 Miami-Dade County’s goal is to develop incentives and procedures to encourage private-sector redevelopment throughout the county, using the Poinciana Industrial Center (PIC) as an example upon which to build a comprehensive brownfields plan. The Pilot will be used to continue addressing legal, financial, technical, and community involvement issues at PIC, and to identify future brownfields sites to target for assessment, cleanup and redevelopment. SOUTHEAST FL $100,000 The Eastward HO! Partnership is a regional collaboration that brings together local, state, regional and federal agencies with private sector, non-profit, and community organizations to address the rehabilitation and reuse of brownfield areas. The Partnership will use the pilot to continue its three-pronged approach of collaboration, strategy and action to address regional brownfield issues. Rehabilitation and redevelopment projects will feature sustainable reuse, including mixed-income housing, sound urban design principles, bicycle transit, and pedestrian development.