What is a Brownfield?
EPA: A brownfield is a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. It is estimated that there are more than 450,000 brownfield sites in the United States. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, utilizes existing infrastructure, takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment.
Legal: Real property - the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties protects the environment, reduces blight, and takes development pressures off greenspaces and working lands.
Brownfield Examples
• Ilegal dumping/failed landfills
• Storage of petroleum hydrocarbons
• Gun ranges
• Mining/industrial sites
• Any site with compromised current use due to a historic use
Why is this a Problem?
• Brownfield sites can often be ideal industrial or commercial sites
• Cleanup of brownfield sites can often limit economic development
• Adding economic development incentives to brownfield sites can often facilitate protection of the community and create incentives for restoration
• Brownfield processes can make identification, assessment and management of contaminated sites more efficient
• The use of brownfields can reduce pressure on development on greenspace and open space
What is the Brownfields Program
EPA's Brownfields Program is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields
Funds can be used to develop a brownfields process, identify and assess sites and even remediate sites. There is also training funds, regional grants and loans that cross over to the private sector