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Rep. Castor Secures Grants For University Area
U. S. Rep. Kathy Cas- tor (FL14) announced last week two federal grants awarded to the University area, continuing her work to lift up the families, students and businesses who live and work in this growing area of innovation. These grants, awarded to University Area Community Development Corporation, Inc. ($300,000) and the University of South Florida ($7.5 million), will bolster the region’s economy and continue investment in research and innovation bur- geoning from the USF area. U. S. Rep. Castor led her Con- gressional colleagues repre- senting the entire Tampa Bay region in championing the grant for the University of South Florida.
“The University area is home to several Tampa Bay economic anchors and grow- ing expertise and innovation,” U. S. Rep. Castor said. “These grants will continue to lift the University area, Tampa Bay and the nation as we work to
improve our environment and infrastructure.”
University Area Commu- nity Development Corpo- ration Inc. (UACDC)
The UACDC is being awarded $300,000 in Brown- fields funding through the U.S. Environmental Protec- tion Agency’s (EPA) Multi- purpose, Assessment and Cleanup (MAC) Grant Pro- gram. Communities use EPA's Brownfields grants to leverage public-private in- vestments, spurring the rede- velopment of vacant, former manufacturing and commer- cial sites for broader revital- ization in their downtowns. This results in a transformed economy and environment while addressing poverty and economic distress.
The grant funding will be used for nine environmental site assessments, including sites with hazardous sub- stances and petroleum. UACDC will also develop
U. S. REP. KATHY CASTOR
three reuse plans for these sites and conduct community outreach in the University area.
“Environmental Justice ensures all communities, fam- ilies and individuals enjoy the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards. Tampa Fam-
ily Health Centers has put Brownfields redevelopment dollars to work, including a site in East Tampa that be- came a national model. The Encore development is an- other Brownfields success story.”
University of South Florida (USF)
USF is being awarded $7.5 million in funds through the U. S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to establish a National Univer- sity Transportation Center (UTC) to advance state-of- the-art transportation re- search. The research will be focused on urban-rural traffic management, new mobility platforms to reduce conges- tion, transit incentives in the face of new alternatives and congestion reduction meth- ods on freeway corridors.
To help secure this large grant, U. S. Rep. Castor led her colleagues from the Tampa Bay congressional del-
egation in championing USF for this highly competitive award.
“Investing in our infra- structure creates jobs and can help us tackle the climate cri- sis through smart solutions, such as greener grid infra- structure, expansion of re- newable energy and energy efficiency programs,” she said.
USF will team up with partners – including Univer- sity of California, Berkeley, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, and University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez – to launch the national center with the goal of making trans- formative impacts on how neighbors in Tampa Bay and throughout the nation move and travel.
So far this fiscal year, U. S. Rep. Castor’s Congres- sional District has been awarded more than $684 mil- lion in investments through 340 grant awards to create jobs and invest in education and infrastructure.
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