Florida Brownfields Program

DEP's Brownfields Program page opens with the Brownfields Redevelopment Act. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) gives the Act's primary goals as reducing public health and environmental hazards on existing commercial and industrial sites that are abandoned or underused, creating financial and regulatory incentives to encourage voluntary cleanup and redevelopment, and deriving appropriate cleanup target levels. The Act also provides a process for obtaining a "No Further Action" letter using risk-based corrective action principles.

In a Phase I ESA

DEP's brownfield areas and sites are the Florida form of the state brownfield records that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source. The general reading of a brownfields listing is on the Brownfields page. Four Florida details shape how to read one.

• An area and a site are separate records. DEP publishes two monthly reports: one of designated brownfield areas and one of executed Brownfield Site Rehabilitation Agreements (BSRAs). Check which of the two a property is on.
• Several incentives are tied to an agreement. DEP lists cleanup liability protection under section 376.82, F.S., the Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credit, a job bonus tax refund of up to $2,500 for each new job created by an eligible business on or abutting a site with a BSRA, and a sales tax refund on building materials for certain housing projects built on or abutting a site with a BSRA. Ask for the agreement and any amendment or assignment of it.
• Completion is an order. DEP's county index is headed as links to counties with designated brownfield areas, site rehabilitation agreements and Site Rehabilitation Completion Orders. A site with an agreement and no completion order is a site to read further. The closure terms are on the Contaminated Site Cleanup Criteria page.
• The file can hold earlier assessments. DEP's Site-Specific Activities and Targeted Brownfields Assessment program, funded under CERCLA section 128(a), may pay for a screening (Phase I) assessment, a full (Phase II) site assessment with sampling, a Site Assessment Report, an analysis of cleanup alternatives, limited cleanups or site monitoring. Funding is capped at $200,000 per site for assessments and $200,000 per site for cleanups, and sites contaminated only with petroleum products are not eligible.

The program's own cleanup rule, Chapter 62-785, F.A.C., was repealed on June 12, 2013, and DEP's rules page points to Chapter 62-780 in its place. DEP's page also links a Model RCRA BSRA with Site Access Agreement, a Memorandum of Agreement between DEP and EPA Region 4, and a list of brownfields contacts for delegated counties. Ask DEP whether a county program handles the site.

Where to look a site up

• Florida Brownfields Area and Site Documentation, which links a page for each county it lists.
• The DEP Brownfields Geoviewer, which DEP describes as a mapping tool to locate existing brownfield areas and sites in Florida.
• The two monthly reports, Designated Brownfield Areas and Executed BSRAs, linked from DEP's Brownfields Program page.

Getting the file

DEP's OCULUS document system gives access to public records associated with permitted facilities and activities. Documents are filed under a DEP program and facility, so have the facility or site name or the facility identification number. For a paper records search, DEP says to contact the district office's Public Records Coordinator or the Office of Ombudsman and Public Services (Public.services@FloridaDEP.gov, 850-245-2118). The routes and fees are on the Public records and OCULUS page.

Sources

Florida Department of Environmental Protection pages, read October 6, 2026:

• Brownfields Program, last modified May 28, 2026.
• Florida Brownfields Area and Site Documentation, last modified December 6, 2023.
• Site-Specific Activities/Targeted Brownfields Assessment Program, last modified July 30, 2024.
• Division of Waste Management Rules, last modified April 21, 2026.
• Public Records, last modified October 2, 2026.