Brownfields

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What is the Brownfields Program?

The Brownfields Program provides incentives for the redevelopment of properties that may have environmental contamination. Property owners who did not contribute to contamination can qualify for the Brownfields Program to use incentives to offset the complications and costs of site cleanup.

Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, reuses existing infrastructure, takes development pressures off open land, and both improves and protects the environment.

The Environmental Protection Commission was delegated the authority to administer the Brownfields Program in Hillsborough County in June 2004. EPC manages the Brownfields program within Hillsborough County, from initial program questions through environmental closure with a Site Rehabilitation Completion Order. EPC also supports nonprofit and government entities with EPA Brownfield grants.

To enter into the Brownfields program, you first must apply to the local government for a Brownfield Area designation. This designation confirms that the property has environmental complications, and that the plans for redevelopment align with the proposed land uses. To inquire about designating a Brownfield Area, please contact the appropriate local government contact below.

Hillsborough County (Unincorporated)
Jaksa Petrovic - Manager, Corporate Business Development, Hillsborough County Economic Development Department
Phone: (813) 273-3719
Email: petrovicJ@HillsboroughCounty.org

City of Tampa

Joshua Ellis - City of Tampa Brownfield Coordinator
Phone: (813) 348-1158
Email: joshua.ellis@tampagov.net
Please Contact Joshua Ellis to inquire about the City's required pre-application meeting for Brownfields designation
Plant City
Mike Karr - Community Services Manager
Phone: (813) 659-4200 ext. 4274
Email: mkarr@plantcitygov.com

Once the Brownfield Area has been designated, a Brownfield Site is created if an environmental cleanup is necessary. A Brownfield site is created when a Brownfields Site Rehabilitation Agreement (BSRA) is signed between EPC and the property owner. The environmental cleanup follows the procedures in Florida’s Contaminated Site Cleanup Criteria, Chapter 62-780 of the Florida Administrative Code. The goal of site rehabilitation is to return the soils and groundwater to clean conditions, or conditions that are protective of human health and the environment as allowed under these regulations. A Site Rehabilitation Completion Order (SRCO) issued by EPC is the final document closing the environmental investigation at the site and terminating the BSRA.

Incentives that may be available for a Brownfields site include the Job Bonus Refund, Sales Tax Credit on building materials, Liability protection for the owner and future owners as well as participation in the FDEP’s Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credit Program. These incentives are described in the FDEP Brownfields Redevelopment Program link below.

To find out more about the Brownfields Program at EPC, please call (813) 627-2600 and request to speak with a Brownfield Coordinator.