The Firm leverages one of Florida’s deepest brownfield practices to help clients unlock the full suite of economically based incentives that make complex cleanup and redevelopment projects financially feasible. Building on our work across more than 300 brownfield projects and hundreds of Brownfield Site Rehabilitation Agreements (BSRAs) and Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credit (VCTC) applications statewide, we design and implement incentive strategies that align environmental remediation, capital stacks, and community benefits for private developers, institutional landowners, local governments, and affordable housing sponsors.
Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credits (VCTCs) – Section 376.30781, Florida Statutes
Florida’s Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credit program is the centerpiece of the state’s economic incentives for brownfield and dry-cleaning cleanup projects. Established in 1998, the program provides corporate income tax credits to encourage voluntary cleanup of dry-cleaning solvent-contaminated sites and brownfield sites with executed BSRAs in designated brownfield areas. Eligible Brownfield or dry-cleaning sites with an executed BSRA or Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credit Agreement may claim an annual credit equal to 50% of eligible site rehabilitation costs, capped at $500,000 per site per year. Credits can be used against Florida corporate income tax and may be carried forward for several years; they are also transferable one time, which can create additional value in transactions. Florida law also provides several “stackable” bonus credits that can be layered on top of the annual 50% credit, subject to their own caps and timing rules: (i) a Site Rehabilitation Completion Order (SRCO) Bonus, which is a one-time 25% credit up to $500,000 per site in the final year of cleanup when FDEP issues an eligible SRCO/No Further Action determination; (ii) a Solid Waste Removal Credit, which is a one-time credit equal to 50% of eligible solid waste removal costs capped at $500,000 per site once solid waste removal is complete; (iii) an Affordable Housing bonus, which is a one-time 25% credit up to $500,000 when redevelopment of the brownfield site is limited to qualifying affordable housing; and (iv) a Health Care Provider/Facility Bonus, which is a one-time 25% bonus credit up to $500,000 when the applicant constructs a qualifying new health care facility or provider location at the site. Taken together, these provisions can allow a well-structured project to recover a substantial portion, and in some cases, the majority, of its eligible cleanup costs through state tax credits.
The VCTC program has grown into a core driver of Florida brownfields redevelopment. Since its inception, approximately $226.5 million in VCTCs have been approved for eligible brownfield and dry-cleaning sites. Demand has consistently exceeded statutory caps, leading the legislature to increase the annual authorization from $2 million to $5 million (2011), to $10 million (2017), and most recently to $35 million per year (effective July 1, 2023). For 2024 expenses, DEP received 183 VCTC applications and approved $25.3 million in credits, of which $24.7 million (about 98%) supported work at 175 brownfield sites. Within this framework, The Firm has built an unparalleled VCTC practice. The Firm has already filed more than 420 VCTC applications on behalf of clients across Florida, helping recover tens of millions of dollars in cleanup costs and repeatedly clearing backlogs as authorization levels increased. Our services include structuring BSRA and remedial scopes to maximize VCTC eligibility while maintaining regulatory defensibility; coordinating technical documentation with consultants to support annual and bonus credit claims; managing timing and sequencing of SRCO bonuses, solid waste, affordable housing, and health care facility bonuses; and designing transfer strategies for credits in complex financings and joint venture structures.
Sales Tax Refund on Building Materials – Section 212.08(5)(o), Florida Statutes
Florida offers a powerful sales-and-use tax refund for building materials used in certain redevelopment projects located in brownfield areas and other designated revitalization areas. For projects constructed on or abutting properties with an executed BSRA, owners may apply through the Florida Neighborhood Revitalization Program for a refund of state sales tax paid on “building materials”—tangible personal property that becomes a component part of housing projects (including newly constructed affordable housing in a designated brownfield area that meets statutory income and set-aside standards) and mixed-use projects (combining residential and compatible commercial uses on qualifying sites). Refunds are generally available only when the amount exceeds $500 and are limited to roughly 97–97.5% of sales tax paid, subject to statutory caps that often range from $5,000 to $10,000 per unit or project, depending on the specific subparagraph and employment mix. Applications must be filed within six months after the project is deemed substantially complete or by a specified November 1 deadline and must be supported by sworn contractor statements and detailed tax and invoice records. Because the Firm serves as brownfields Counsel to many of Florida’s leading affordable and workforce housing developers—and has helped secure BSRAs for more than 90 housing projects in over 32 jurisdictions—we routinely integrate the sales tax refund into project pro formas and coordinate with lenders, tax counsel, and housing agencies to ensure the refund can be effectively monetized within the capital stack.
Brownfield Redevelopment Bonus Refund – Section 288.107, Florida Statutes
The Brownfield Redevelopment Bonus Refund, administered by Florida Commerce, is a performance-based incentive that rewards job creation in brownfield areas. Qualified businesses may receive up to $2,500 per new job created in a brownfield area, typically under four- to five-year incentive agreements. To qualify, a business must either be a “Qualified Target Industry” or commit to at least $2 million in capital investment, plus create at least 10 new jobs with specified wage and benefits criteria, and locate on or abutting a BSRA property. We advise corporate end-users, industrial developers, and municipalities on structuring projects and tenant commitments to meet brownfields bonus eligibility; aligning bonus agreements with BSRA milestones and VCTC timing; and coordinating with local economic development offices to layer brownfield bonuses with other state and local incentives.
Site-Specific Activities / Targeted Brownfields Assessment (TBA) Program – FDEP
Florida’s Site-Specific Activities/Targeted Brownfields Assessment (TBA) Program, which is funded under CERCLA Section 128(a), provides no-cost technical support for environmental assessment and limited cleanup activities at brownfield sites, especially in communities that do not have their own EPA assessment grants. Through the TBA program, FDEP can provide Phase I screening assessments (historical research, site reconnaissance); Phase II investigations (sampling to identify contaminants and delineate impacts); Site Assessment Reports and Analyses of Brownfield Cleanup Alternatives (ABCAs), including comparative cost estimates and reuse-sensitive cleanup options; and limited remediation and source removal activities, as well as ongoing monitoring. Funding is generally limited to $200,000 per site for assessment and $200,000 per site for cleanup and is focused on sites that meet the federal definition of a brownfield and are contaminated (or suspected to be) with hazardous substances (not petroleum-only sites). Eligible applicants include local governments, nonprofits, educational institutions, private and prospective owners, and quasi-governmental entities, among others. The Firm works with cities, counties, and nonprofit partners to identify candidate sites where TBA support can de-risk acquisition and due diligence costs; coordinate TBA scopes with future BSRA/VCTC strategies; and use FDEP-generated data and ABCAs as the technical backbone for EPA Brownfields Cleanup or Multipurpose grant applications.
U.S. EPA Brownfield Grants (MARC) and 2026 Grant Opportunities
EPA’s Brownfields Program provides competitive grants for Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund (RLF), and Cleanup (MARC) activities nationwide. These grants can fund site inventories, community engagement, environmental assessments, planning, cleanup, and revolving loan capitalization for brownfield projects. Grant types commonly used by Florida entities include: Assessment Grants to fund inventories, Phase I/II assessments, planning, and reuse strategies across multiple sites; Cleanup Grants to fund remedial actions at specific sites owned by the applicant, including soil and groundwater cleanup and removal of hazardous building materials such as asbestos and lead-based paint; Multipurpose Grants to support a combination of assessment, cleanup, and planning activities in a defined target area, often requiring at least one Phase II assessment and one cleanup; and RLF Grants to capitalize revolving loan funds and subgrants that finance cleanup at multiple brownfield sites, frequently in partnership with regional planning councils. For FY 2026, EPA released updated MARC grant guidelines and has revised threshold and coalition requirements to expand eligibility and refine target area definitions.
Florida communities and agencies have been consistent beneficiaries of EPA brownfields funding. In 2025, Florida recipients were awarded approximately $6.1 million in competitive Brownfields Assessment, Cleanup, and RLF supplemental grants, including Gadsden County (Community-Wide Assessment), Lake Alfred (Cleanup), Palmetto CRA (Community-Wide Assessment), and the South Florida Regional Planning Council (Coalition Assessment plus RLF supplemental funding). Florida entities have also secured multiple Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grants, including projects in Port St. Joe, Kissimmee, Tampa, and Miami, supporting environmental training, certifications, and employment pipelines tied to brownfield redevelopment. FDEP receives recurring state and Tribal Response Program funding (CERCLA Section 128(a)) and additional Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) cooperative agreement funds, which support brownfields program administration, site-specific assistance, and tools such as the Brownfields Redevelopment Atlas.
The Firm’s brownfields team, drawing on our extensive Superfund, VCTC, and redevelopment experience, supports clients and public-sector partners throughout the MARC grant lifecycle by identifying competitive project concepts and aligning them with U.S. EPA policy priorities; drafting and reviewing MARC narratives, budgets, and attachments to integrate state incentives (VCTC, Brownfield Bonus, sales tax refunds) into the overall funding strategy; and coordinating among local governments, regional planning councils, and private developers to position Florida projects for Assessment, Cleanup, Multipurpose, and RLF grants.
Integrated Incentives Strategy Within the Firm’s Brownfields Practice
Because the Firm sits at the intersection of state statutory incentives, federal brownfield grants, and complex redevelopment transactions, our economic-based incentives practice is not siloed—it is fully integrated into our brownfields counseling, environmental remediation, and land revitalization work. For Florida brownfields and dry-cleaning sites, we pair VCTCs (annual and bonus credits) with sales tax refunds and the Brownfield Redevelopment Bonus Refund to reduce both cleanup and vertical development costs; leverage FDEP’s TBA program to generate high-quality technical data that strengthens VCTC claims, supports BSRA negotiations, and reduces due diligence risk for lenders and investors; and combine EPA MARC grants and state incentives to build robust capital stacks for catalytic projects—particularly affordable and workforce housing, community health facilities, and mixed-use downtown infill developments. By aligning legal strategy, technical work, and financial incentives, the Firm helps clients transform contaminated and underused properties into financeable, community-supported projects while capturing every available dollar of economic benefit under Florida’s Brownfields Redevelopment Act, the Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credit program, the state tax code, and the U.S. EPA Brownfields Program.