Overview

According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, the approximate number of brownfields in the country is 450,000.  Brownfields can be former service stations, dry cleaners, factories, warehouses, parking lots, hangers, abandoned railroad yards and right-of-ways, airstrips, bus facilities or landfills.  Year after year, these sites stand idle.  

In part, brownfields remain idle because they are environmentally polluted, and there are many obstacles to cleaning up and redeveloping polluted sites. Chief among them are broad legal liability for cleanup of contaminants and fears about future harm that pollution in brownfields may cause to human health or the environment.

Earlier this year, President Bush signed a new Brownfields law that will encourage the cleanup and redevelopment of old industrial properties, including abandoned petroleum storage tanks sites. In addition, the President’s fiscal year 2003 budget request doubled the funds available through EPA in fiscal year 2002 – from $98 million to $200 million – to help states and communities clean up and revitalize and redevelop Brownfields.

Redevelopment Makes Sense

When owners or developers clean up brownfields and put them to new uses, there are numerous benefits.  Revitalized brownfields can breathe new life into neighborhoods – and everybody wins.

Brownfields offer opportunities that go beyond their old uses. Developers have transformed brownfields into everything from golf courses to mixed developments with housing, offices, shopping and open space. Smaller lots have been revitalized as retail shops and greenhouses.

Many communities, businesses and environmentalists promote brownfield redevelopment. As a result, various private and public sector guidance and incentives have been developed. 

Redevelopment is seldom easy or risk-free. But if done right, it can bring special rewards: peace of mind, income and a cleaner environment.

Community Involvement Is Vital

Community-driven brownfields redevelopment has a better chance of achieving sustainable end uses than brownfields programs which lack true community participation. Community organizations that learn to participate successfully in the brownfields redevelopment process will truly shape the future of brownfields work. 

But in order to do this, community groups must be armed with an understanding of the cleanup and redevelopment process, as well as funding opportunities. Even if a community is not in a position to take the lead in brownfields redevelopment, it is important for community organizations to understand the process so that they can participate meaningfully in land-use decisions that affect their community's future.

Funding Support

Pollution concerns have led developers to avoid properties in urban centers for ones in rural and suburban areas (a.k.a. greenfields), where land is perceived to be less expensive and free from unknown liability. If these barriers to brownfields reuse are to be overcome, site re-users need funds to perform site assessments, funds to develop a cleanup plan and funds to do the cleanup.

Help is Available

Federal Programs.  The federal government has an assortment of programs and resources to help clean up and reuse brownfields sites. The USEPA has been the most active federal agency in promoting the redevelopment of brownfields and other under-utilized contaminated properties. 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) additionally considers brownfields to be potential opportunities for neighborhood revitalization and economic development. HUD spends $25 million annually for competitive grants through the Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI). Other programs provide resources for the renewal of economically depressed areas, notably, HUD's Community Development Block grant Program (CDBG) and Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program.

Other federal brownfields-diligent entities include:

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which provides technical assistance in the assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields, where such assistance would improve water quality in streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands and floodplains. 

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, "states, localities, and transit agencies are provided the flexibility to participate, where appropriate, in transportation projects that include the reuse of brownfields sites," either for specific transportation facilities, or where part of the transportation solution is also part of the environmental solution. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) also offers programs and credit support that may be used by small businesses for projects that include a redevelopment component.

State Programs.  States have addressed some of these barriers to brownfields reuse by designing their own programs and demonstrating that there are many different ways to reach the common goal of site cleanup and reuse. 

To date, about 16,000 sites have gone through state Voluntary Cleanup Programs (VCPs).  The USEPA has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOAs) with some states, which gives the state VCP credibility and autonomy.

Team Approach

A variety of private and public sector organizations may play a role in the course of cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields sites. Not all of these organizations will be involved at every site. 

Strategic players include federal agencies, state environmental agencies, state economic development and planning agencies, commercial lenders, technical consultants, legal counsel, citizens and community groups, local government agencies, property owners, developers, real estate professionals and local community development corporations (CDCs).

Not only do brownfields sites represent a waste of a community's natural assets, but they discourage positive economic development, while encouraging undesirable land use.  Everyone should take an active interest in considering redevelopment solutions and saving greenfields.  

Nancy Varricchio