EPA Announces $18.9 million in Grants to Assess and Clean up Communities Across Southeast Region
Florida will use funds to redevelop a former fertilizer plant, a vacant lumberyard, an abandoned gas station and other projects
Tallahassee, Fla. (May 16, 2025) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the selection of 23 recipients across EPA’s Southeast Region, including four in Florida, to receive $18,879,113 in Brownfields Grants to assess, clean up and revitalize local lands.
“The $267 million in Brownfields Grants will transform contaminated properties into valuable spaces for businesses and housing, creating new opportunities that strengthen local economies and directly benefit American families,” said EPA Administrator Zeldin. “EPA’s Brownfields Program demonstrates how environmental stewardship and economic prosperity complement each other. Under President Trump’s leadership, EPA is Powering the Great American Comeback, ensuring our nation has the cleanest air, land, and water while supporting sustainable growth and fiscal responsibility.”
“The first pillar of Administrator Zeldin’s Great American Comeback initiative promises access to clean air, land and water to every American while fostering economic growth. The revitalization of these brownfields is not just about cleaning up land, it’s about improving public health and restoring hope and opportunity in our communities,” said EPA Regional Administrator Kevin McOmber. “Together, we can transform these blighted properties into vibrant spaces that foster economic growth and enhance the quality of life for residents across the Southeast.”
These investments support locally driven redevelopment, unlocking economic opportunity, creating jobs and improving human health outcomes in communities in Region 4, which covers the Southeast. In addition to these new grants, EPA will provide $2,750,000 in supplemental funding to Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) recipients in Region 4, including one in Florida. These funds will keep critical momentum going in communities already benefiting from brownfields investments, ensuring continued progress toward safe and reusable land.
These grants, part of $267 million in Brownfields Grants being announced nationwide by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, put the agency’s commitment to protect human health and the environment into action while remaining good stewards of tax dollars and advancing policies to energize the economy.
Brownfields Grants are a powerful catalyst for local economic growth. Communities in Region 4 have used previous EPA grants to assess, clean up and attract new development.
In Florida, the EPA is awarding four Brownfields Grants totaling $4,195,605 and $2 million through the Revolving Loan Fund:
- Gadsden County will use a $500,000 assessment grant to conduct 17 Phase I and eight Phase II environmental site assessments, create an inventory of brownfields sites, prepare four cleanup plans and a Community Involvement Plan, and conduct community engagement activities. The targeted area is the City of Quincy.
- The City of Lake Alfred will use a $1,995,605 cleanup grant, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to clean up the former Growers Fertilizer site and support community engagement activities.
- Palmetto Community Redevelopment Agency will use a $500,000 assessment grant to conduct eight Phase I and six phase II environmental site assessments, prepare one Community Involvement Plan and nine reuse plans, and conduct community engagement activities. The targeted area is the City of Palmetto.
- South Florida Regional Planning Council will lead a $1.2 million Brownfields Assessment Coalition Grant to conduct 18 Phase I and nine Phase II environmental site assessments, develop eight cleanup plans and 10 reuse plans, and support community engagement activities. Focus areas will be the City of Miami’s West Grove and Allapattah neighborhoods and the Tri-Rail Florida East Coast Railway Corridor.
- The South Florida Regional Planning Council Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund will also receive $2 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).
EPA’s Brownfields Program helps transform underutilized and blighted properties into community assets – empowering neighborhoods, protecting health and sparking lasting economic change.
Learn more about EPA’s Brownfields and Land Revitalization grant opportunities.
Background
EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.9 billion in Brownfields Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. To date, brownfields investments leveraged more than $42 billion in cleanup and redevelopment. Over the years, the relatively small investment of federal funding was able to leverage, from both public and private sources, more than 220,500 jobs.
View the list of selected applicants here.
For more on the Brownfields Grants: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-brownfields-grant-funding
For more on EPA’s Brownfields Program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields
EPA anticipates that it will make these awards once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied by selected recipients.
For updates on the EPA’s activities in the Southeast, follow EPA Region 4 on X, Facebook and Instagram.
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