United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response(5101)
EPA500-F-99-133
June 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
SEPA
Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Oca/a, FL
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models;job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfieldstofacilitatecleanupofbrownfieldssites and preparetrainees for future employmentintheenvironmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states,
tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods
to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Ocala for a Brownfields
Pilot. Ocala (population 44,000) is one of the fastest-
growing cities in the United States and occupies 39
square miles of Marion County. In 1900, Ocala was
a center of industry; however, its downtown area
currently has an unemployment rate of 20 percent and
a poverty rate of 49 percent, as business and industry
have closed down or moved out of the city.
As the century progressed, the industries that once
made Ocala prosper gradually moved to the outlying
areas where land was more plentiful, less expensive,
and closer to the interstate highway. Buildings and
structures were left vacant and over time became
blighted. The jobs at operations such as foundries,
lumber mills, blacksmith shops, fertilizer plants, railroad
depots, and newspaper plants moved away and many
of the residential neighborhoods supporting these
factories also fell into decline. In 1998, the city
designated a 108-square-block area of downtown as
a Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) in need of
revitalization. There are 400 parcels of land in the
CRA, many with unknown environmental
contamination.
PILOTSNAPSHOT
Ocala, Florida
Contacts:
Intergovernment Risk
Management Department
City of Ocala
(352) 629-8359
Date of Announcement:
June 1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets a
108-square-block area in
downtown Ocala that has
been designated a Community
Redevelopment Area.
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 4
(404) 562-8661
Visit the EPA Region 4 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region4/wastepgs/brownfpgs/bf.htm
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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OBJECTIVES
The Pilot's objective is to address potential soil and
groundwater contamination at the CRA properties.
With community input, the city created the Downtown
Development Commission (DDC), a five-member
board consisting of property owners, merchants, and
business leaders within the CRA. The DDC oversees
the implementation of the CRA plan, which includes
a 30-year, long-range revitalization plan addressing
land use, traffic, pedestrian issues, housing, recreation,
conservation, and infrastructure needs. Additionally,
the goal of "Renew OCALA"—the city's brownfields
program office—is to fully utilize the existing
brownfields properties in the city. Renew OCALA
will share the information gathered by the Pilot with
the community and will provide community-related
support for the Phase I and II assessments in the
brownfields area. The Pilot will provide a baseline of
environmental data for the city to continue to plan its
redevelopment approach.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting Phase I and II site assessments in the
redevelopment area; and
• Hiring a Project Coordinator to provide support to
the Pilot and conduct outreach.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Ocala, Florida
June 1999 EPA500-F-99-133
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