Background

Typical State Program

According to the Northeast-Midwest Institute’s latest “State of the States” survey, 47 states (all but North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming) have some sort of brownfield program in place. These state programs vary in terms of comprehensiveness, incentives, level of state liability relief granted, cleanup requirements, and overall effectiveness. They regulate differently and emphasize different types of reuse, whether industrial, commercial, housing, or open space. Some states are well positioned to take advantage of federal legislative initiatives, while others are not. 

For more information on individual state brownfield remediation programs, read the Northeast-Midwest Institute’s report, “Brownfield Voluntary Cleanup Program Impacts: Reuse Benefits, State by State.”

Federal Brownfield Programs

(Provided by Northeast Midwest Institute)

The federal government has identified an array of programs and resources to help clean up and reuse brownfield sites. An Interagency Working Group, established by the Environmental Protection Agency in July 1996, enables more than 20 agencies to exchange information and coordinate activities in support of local brownfield cleanup efforts. Some agencies have been more active participants than others. Even now, only two federal agencies specifically support “brownfields work” by name:

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been the most active federal agency in promoting the redevelopment of brownfields and other underutilized contaminated properties. EPA’s Brownfields Action Agenda, announced on January 25, 1995, is divided into four broad, overlapping categories: brownfield pilots, clarification of liability and cleanup issues, partnerships and outreach, and job development and training. The EPA has a fiscal 2001 allocation of $91.6 million to fund brownfield pilot assessment programs, RLFs, job training grants, and other activities.
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 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 agencies have shown a strong committment to brownfield redevelopment 
through their existing programs, which are not brownfields programs per se:

• Long before the term “brownfields” was coined, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) implemented programs to help economically distressed communities alleviate the adverse conditions created by unemployment, and it continues to provide funding to promote infrastructure development, business development, and economic revitalization, all key brownfield reuse goals.
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers aims to provide technical assistance in the assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of brownfields where such assistance would improve water quality in streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and floodplains.
• Several federal agencies also show potential as sources of funding for brownfield redevelopment, when such projects can fit program eligibility criteria: According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT), “states, localities, and transit agencies are provided the flexibility to participate, where appropriate, in transportation projects that include the reuse of brownfield sites,”either for specific transportation facilities, or where part of the transportation solution is also part of the environmental solution (i.e., cleanup as part of roadway preparation).
• The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers programs and credit support that may be used by small businesses for projects that include a redevelopment component.