Brownfields 2011  Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
    ™          Orange County, 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. In
2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help
states and communities around the country cleanup and
revitalize brownfields sites. Under this 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

Orange County was selected to receive two brownfields
assessment grants. Beginning in the 1950s, Orange
County had an economy based on the citrus industry. In
1971, Walt Disney World opened in the county,
sparking a growing tourism industry in the area and also
resulting in the redevelopment of many orange groves
into housing developments. During the last decade, the
economies of some portions of Orange County began to
decline. The focus of assessments will be the Pine Hills
community (population 41,764), which is an older
suburb of Orlando. Many of Pine Hills' residents have
moved to newer neighborhoods, leaving the community
in a state of decline. Much of the housing in this area is
government subsidized, and the unemployment rate is
nearly 12 percent. In the Pine Hills area, nearly 26
percent of residents live below the poverty level.
Brownfield assessments are expected to facilitate the
cleanup and redevelopment of properties into
mixed-use commercial and residential development.
                   Assessment Grants

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

                   EPA has selected Orange County for two
                   brownfields assessment grants. Community-wide
                   hazardous substances grant funds will be used to
                   conduct 12 Phase I and 10 Phase II environmental
                   site assessments. Grant funds also will be used for
                   community outreach, cleanup planning, and
                   community health monitoring. Petroleum grant funds
                   will be used to conduct the same tasks at sites with
                   potential petroleum contamination.

                   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: Orange County,FL
                   (407)836-1420

                   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)
E PA 560-F-128-045
         May 11

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