Brownfields 2003 Grant Fact Sheet

Jacksonville, FL

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic development to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is 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. On January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.

ASSESSMENT GRANT

$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the City of Jacksonville for a brownfields assessment grant. The city has targeted two urban watersheds and community redevelopment areas for assessment with this grant. Grant funds will be used to conduct area-wide site assessments to identify sites with potential contamination issues and to prioritize sites with redevelopment potential for Phase II site assessments. In addition, grant funds will be used to refine and update the brownfields inventory in Jacksonville's geographical information system (GIS).

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Jacksonville was selected to receive an assessment grant. The city is focusing on two areas comprising about 20 square miles within Jacksonville's federally designated Empowerment Zone and state-designated Brownfields Redevelopment Area. Both of these areas have been identified in the city's Downtown Master Plan as greenway corridors linking neighborhoods with the downtown and the St. John's River, a federally designated American Heritage River. The 50,000 residents of the target areas are predominately low-income minorities. Average unemployment in the targeted areas is over 12 percent, and about 37 percent of residents live below the poverty line. Historical land use in these areas has been commercial and industrial, including a former incinerator facility.

CONTACTS

For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/brownfields.

EPA Region 4 Brownfields Team
404-562-8661
http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/index.htm

Grant Recipient: City of Jacksonville, FL
904-630-2304

Prior to receipt of these funds in fiscal year 2003, the City of Jacksonville has received brownfields funding for assessment and revolving loan fund grants.

The cooperative agreement for this grant has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.