A \ Brownfields 2009 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
February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into
law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The
Recovery Act is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our
economy, and create or save millions of jobs. This law
provided stimulus funds to the Brownfields Program to
award grants to evaluate and clean up former industrial
and commercial sites. Under this law, EPA will provide
financial assistance to eligible applicants through four
competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving
loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants.
Community Description
The City of Clearwater was selected to receive two
brownfields assessment grants. Clearwater (population
107,000) is located on Florida's west-central coast on the
Gulf of Mexico. Clearwater's Brownfields Area (CBA)
(population 13,799) is the oldest section in the city. It
covers 1,842 acres and includes over 250 sites. More than
100 of these sites contain reported contamination. The
CBA was once a thriving business community. Private
disinvestment and environmental decline have left behind
abandoned lands tainted by former gas stations, dry
cleaning facilities, print shops, and other industries.
Today, the CBA is home to the city's lowest income
community, which also has the highest concentration of
minorities. More than 17 percent of CBA families live
below the poverty level. African-Americans and
Hispanics make up 32.4 and 27.2 percent of area
residents, respectively. Brownfield assessments are
expected to allow the city to deliver resources to promote
environmental justice in the CBA and emphasize
redevelopment of brownfield sites for affordable housing.
Assessment Grant

$200,000 for hazardous substances
(Recovery Act Funding)
$200,000 for petroleum (Recovery Act
Funding)
EPA has selected the City of Clearwater for two
brownfields assessment grants. Community-wide
hazardous substances and petroleum grant funds
will be used to conduct about 28 Phase I and 8
Phase II environmental site assessments, and
conduct cleanup planning. Grant funds also will be
used to support community outreach activities and
implement a public health monitoring plan.
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/was te/bf)
Grant Recipient: City of 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	c
Environmental	anri Fmpflpn™	EPA 560-F-09-167
Protection Agency	Response (5105T)	May 2009
Washington, DC 20450	Kesponse (si us )

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