Land Use Planning Strategies--
Brownfield Redevelopment
The U.S. EPA defines Brownfields as the following:
Abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial
facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated
by real or perceived environmental contamination.
Carnegie
Mellon University’s project on brownfields provides a rationale
for Brownfield Redevelopment in the following summary:
Both brownfields and infrastructure issues are of national
importance but are of particular relevance to the economic growth
and development of cities, counties and states. For both older
and newer cities, brownfield industrial sites are both a resource
and a liability.
They are a resource in that they are usually well situated
and possess some existing infrastructure, and they are also
a liability in that they often have some environmental problems.
Environment and other economic concerns have become obstacles
to development for many sites. Recent changes in environmental
regulation and public perceptions have led to renewed interest
in brownfield redevelopment.
Brownfield site redevelopment can provide an opportunity
to build the tax base and rejuvenate decaying infrastructure
and depressed communities. With ever increasing pressures
on existing infrastructure from development, time, and limited
resources for renewal, more rational approaches to brownfield
site remediation, and their associated infrastructure, are
needed. Such rational treatment of brownfields is especially
needed since interest in urban renewal remains strong, and
increasing restrictions and public opposition to greenfield
development limits other options.
Links
EPA’s Brownfields
Cleanup and Redevelopment program provides information
on brownfields pilots and grants, laws and regulations, tax
incentives, insurance, initiatives, and links to other resources.
The Brownfields
Center (TBC) works to integrate multiple disciplines
to realize potential benefits from revitalizing idle industrial
sites. TBC brings together a variety of researchers from Carnegie
Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh to study relationships
among Brownfield development, urban infrastructure renewal,
economic development and the quality of life, in order to support
the process of returning idle industrial sites to productive
uses.
GSA Brownfields Redevelopment Initiative is working with communities to identify and redeploy underutilized federal properties.
Guardian Trust, a public/private partnership launched by Earth Pledge and others, conducts
long-term tracking and monitoring of institutional controls
at redeveloped brownfield sites across the United States.
International
City/County Management Association offers information,
listings of events, and online and published documents on Brownfields
Redevelopment.
The Local
Government Environmental Assistance Network has a section
on Brownfields/Superfund that provides news, links, publications
and regulatory information related to brownfield redevelopment.
The National
Brownfield Association is
a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to stimulating brownfield
redevelopment by providing information resources and educational
programs.
The US Council of Mayors has a Brownfields program called Recycling
America's Land that offers news, reports and success
stories related to brownfields.
The National Vacant
Properties Campaign, sponsored by Smart Growth America,
the International City/County Management Association and the
Local Initiatives Support Corporation, is a national effort
to prevent abandonment, redevelop vacant properties and revitalize
existing communities.
On-line Articles and Publications
Brownfields
Bibliography, 2003, HUD Library
This bibliography lists periodical articles on brownfields.
Public
Policies and Private Decisions Affecting the Redevelopment of
Brownfields, 2001, George Washington University
This report, prepared under cooperative agreement with EPA,
examines the relationship between reusing brownfields and preserving
greenfields, using information from brownfields projects underway
across the nation.
Recycling
America's Land, 1999, U.S. Conference of Mayors
Profiles the status of Brownfield sites in 223 American cities.
The report indicates that Brownfields are a major problem for
cities large and small and the lack of funds to cleanup these
sites was the most frequently identified obstacle in recycling
these lands.
Roles
of Community-based Organizations in Brownfields Redevelopment,
2004, Lincoln Institute of Land Use Policy
Discusses why community-based nonprofit organizations (CBOs)
should become involved in brownfields redevelopment. Cites successful
redevelopment case studies and discusses how to break down specific
barriers to brownfield redevelopment.
The Northeast-Midwest
Institute offers a number of recent and useful reports
on federal and state brownfield programs, as well as brownfield
tools such as economic development, cleanup technologies and
financing. A selection of titles available online:
The Northeast-Midwest Institute and the National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals also offer Unlocking Brownfields: Keys to Community Revitalization, which includes more than 50 profiles of successful brownfields projects and programs.
Last updated January 31, 2005
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