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EPA Awards $198,032 to Central Florida Regional Planning Council to Help Cleanup and Reuse Brownfields Sites

Release Date: 04/25/2013
Contact Information: James Pinkney, (404) 562-9183 (Direct), (404) 562-8400 (Main) pinkney.james@epa.gov

(Atlanta - April 25, 2013) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that it plans to award the Central Florida Regional Planning Council (CFRPC) with a brownfield grant to help them plan for the assessment, clean up and reuse of Brownfields properties. This funding is part of the Brownfields Area-Wide Planning program, which aims to help communities develop area-wide plans and specific implementation strategies for integrating the cleanup and reuse of brownfield sites into neighborhood revitalization efforts.

“EPA is certainly excited about the opportunity for communities in the Southeast Region to realize sustainable environmental results,” said EPA Region 4 Administrator, Gwen Keyes Fleming. “Through EPA’s Brownfields Program we support not just environmental revitalization but economic revitalization.”

EPA has selected the Central Florida Regional Planning Council as a Brownfields Area-Wide Planning grant recipient. CFRPC will work with the community, area businesses, the City of Lakeland and Polk County to develop an area-wide plan and implementation strategy for a brownfields property on the southeast shore of Lake Parker. Under this grant, CFRPC will carry out research, inventory existing conditions, effectively involve the community and other stakeholders to identify priorities, and identify the resources needed to bring the plan to fruition. Key partners who will work with the CFRPC are the City of Lakeland, Polk County, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Combee Area Revitalization Effort, and various other community groups.

Brownfields are real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In 2010, EPA launched the Brownfields Area-Wide Planning (BF AWP) program as a pilot program with the goal of broadening the approach that communities take with existing Brownfields grant programs. With this second round of grant funding, EPA has now awarded approximately $8 million to 43 communities.

This is the second round of grants awarded under the BF AWP program. EPA’s BF AWP program supports the collaboration among EPA and the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development to leverage a range of programs to meet common revitalization needs. The collaboration ensures that the agencies consider affordable housing, transportation, and environmental protection together. The Partnership is helping communities across the country to use existing in-fill sites to create more housing choices, make transportation more efficient and reliable, reinforce existing investments, and support vibrant and healthy neighborhoods that attract businesses.

More information on the grant recipients: http://epa.gov/brownfields/areawide_grants.htm

More information on the partnership: http://www.sustainablecommunities.gov/

Connect with EPA Region 4 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eparegion4
And on Twitter: @USEPASoutheast