Brownfields 2003 Assessment Grant  Fact Sheet
               Clearwater, FL
EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states.
communities, and other stakeholders 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.

Community Description

The City of Clearwater was selected to receive an
assessment grant. Clearwater is located in the most
densely populated county in Florida. Urban sprawl has
left a 25-year legacy of environmental and economic
decline in the downtown area and surrounding
neighborhoods. The Clearwater Brownfields Area
(CBA) in downtown Clearwater is impacted by
abandoned land tainted by former gas station, dry
cleaning, and printing operations. The CBA contains an
estimated 188 sites with a variety of environmental
contamination. Residents of the area have experienced
declining property values resulting from blight and job
loss because businesses are fleeing to the suburbs.
Clearwater has solicited community input on the CBA
revitalization strategy from residents, business  owners,
local financial institutions, and local nonprofit
organizations. The city actively engages all
stakeholders in its development of reuse plans.
                   Assessment Grant

                   $200,000 for hazardous substances
                   $200,000 for petroleum

                   EPA has selected the City of Clearwater for a
                   brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be
                   used to perform assessments for both hazardous
                   substances and petroleum contamination at two sites.
                   The city also will use funding to assess hazardous
                   substances at another property and to perform
                   assessments for lead and asbestos at ten sites to be
                   determined through community input. Petroleum
                   funding will be used to assess petroleum
                   contamination at a substation and two additional
                   sites to be determined through community input.

                   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
                   (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).

                   EPA Region 4 Brownfields Team
                   (404) 562-8792
                   EPA Region 4 Brownfields Web site
                   (http: //www. epa.gov/region4/waste/bf)

                   Grant Recipient: Clearwater,FL
                   (727) 562-4054

                   The information presented in this fact sheet comes
                   from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
                   accuracy of this information. The cooperative
                   agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated.
                   Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are
                   subject to change.
  United States
  Environmental
  Protection Agency
  Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-03-068
        Jun 03

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