Brownfields
Overview | Reports
EPA Reauthorization, Issues and Opportunities Series
Sustainable Development, Brownfields, and Energy
Environmental and Economic Impacts of Brownfields Redevelopment
Disadvantaged Communities | Brownfields Communities Network
Congressional Briefings | Revitalizing Older Cities-Sustainable Development | Links
Federal Brownfields Legislation and the National Brownfields Coalition
EPA Brownfields Reauthorization, Issues and Opportunities Series
Other Federal Brownfields Legislation and Brownfields Coalition Information
Sustainable Development, Brownfields, and Energy
Northeast-Midwest Reports and Papers
- Sustainable Urban Redevelopment and Climate Change Congressional Briefing (July 17, 2008)
- Sustainable Urban Redevelopment as a Climate Change Solution (published in Brownfields News, June, 2008)
- Energy Benefits of Urban Infill, Brownfields, and Sustainable Urban Redevelopment - published in the June, 2008 issue of The Geopolitics of Energy a publication of the Canadian Energy Research Institute
- Brownfields, Infill, and Energy (Evans Paull presentation at the National Brownfields Conference, May, 2008)
- Energy Benefits of Urban Infill, Brownfields,and Sustainable Urban Redevelopment (Evans Paull IEDC Presentation, April 2008)
- Establishing Pilot Programs for Sustainable Development and Alternative Energy Reuse of Brownfields
- Chart/list of Green Brownfields Projects
- Gateway South, Creative Local Financing Spurs Green Corridor (January 2007)
- Energy and Sustainable Urban Redevelopment – by the Numbers
Links to Notable Sustainable Brownfields Projects
Brownfields/Mixed Use Projects with Energy Production
Brownfields Redevelopment with Energy Production as the Primary Use
Brownfields Redevelopment Combined with Land Conservation and Eco-Restoration
Energy and Brownfields Links to Research, Publications, News
- Capital Markets Partnership, National Green Building Underwriting Standard
- Summary of LEED Government Incentives, February, 2008, US Green Buildings Council and New Buildings Institute
- Green Buildings Deliver Predicted Energy Savings, US Green Buildings Council and New Buildings Institute, 2007
- Growing Cooler, Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change, Urban Land Institute, Smart Growth America, and National Center for Smart Growth, Dec, 2007
- Towards a Climate-Friendly Urban Environment, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, 2006
- Atlantic Steel Case Study – Brownfields Site Projected to Save VMTs, US EPA, 2006
- Brownfields and Density Study, George Washington University, 2002
- “My Other Car is a Bright Green City’, Alex Steffen, World Changing, 2007
- “Energy Use in Attached and Detached Residential Developments: Survey Results, Florida Solar Energy Center, 2007
Environmental and Economic Impacts of Brownfields Redevelopment
Northeast-Midwest Reports and Papers
Environmental and Economic Impact Links to Research and Publications
- Urban Land Institute, Smart Growth America, and National Center for Smart Growth, Growing Cooler, Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change, Dec, 2007.
- De Sousa, C., Residential Development Activity on Brownfields in Milwaukee and Chicago: An Examination of Redevelopment Trends, Developer Perceptions, and Future Prospects, September, 2006.
- George Washington University, Brownfields-Greenfields Land Trade-off Study: Public Policies and Private Decisions Affecting the Redevelopment of Brownfields: An Analysis of Critical Factors, Relative Weights and Areal Differentials, 2001.
- Howland, Marie, Employment Effects of Brownfield Redevelopment: What Do We Know from the Literature? National Center for Environmental Economics, January, 2007.
- U.S. Conference of Mayors, Recycling America’s Land, a National Report on Brownfields Redevelopment January, 2008.
- Wernstedt, Kris, Lauren Heberle, Anna Alberini, and Peter Meyer, The Brownfields Phenomenon: Much Ado about Something or the Taming of the Shrewd, Resources for the Future, November 2004, Discussion Paper 04–46.
- Wernstedt, Kris, National Center for Environmental Economics, Overview of Existing Studies on Community Impacts of Land Use, 2004.
- U.S. Conference of Mayors, Clean Air Brownfields Report, December, 2001.
Disadvantaged Communities
The Northeast-Midwest Institute, The Sustainable Community Development Group and The Ferguson Group in 2006 launched the EPA-sponsored Disadvantaged Communities Network to provide brownfields tools and technical assistance to local communities that are seeking to overcome economic and neighborhood disadvantage.
Disadvantaged Communities Project Summary
To become involved in the Disadvantaged Communities Network contact Andy Seth at The Ferguson Group (202/454-3922).
Neighborhood Stabilization Program
Brownfields Financing Webcasts and Workshops
1. Webcast -- Dollars and Sense: Smart Brownfields Financing Options for Disadvantaged Communities
The Northeast-Midwest Institute hosted the first 90-minute webcast for the Disadvantaged Communities project on December 14, 2006. The webcast provided an overview of federal and state brownfields financing resources, highlighted opportunities for private sector investment and showcased the City of Rochester’s effective financing strategies. Click here to access a recorded archive of the event. Links to the Powerpoint presentations are below.
2. Webcast -- Building Strong Communities: The Role of Community Development Corporations in Brownfields Redevelopment
The second 90-minute Disadvantaged Communities webcast was held on March 22, 2007. The webcast highlighted the unique role that CDCs have begun to play in reclaiming environmentally-contaminated properties. Specifically, the webcast provided tools and information for CDCs to effectively manage real estate transactions involving brownfields, including tips for hiring consultants, managing legal liability, and seeking public and private sector funding. The webcast also showcased two CDCs that have actively pursued brownfields redevelopment strategies. Click here to access a recorded archive of the event. Links to the Powerpoint presentations are below.
3. Trenton Workshop: Building Strong Neighborhoods: Brownfields Redevelopment in Undercapitalized Markets.
On December 10, 2007 Northeast-Midwest Institute co-hosted a workshop with project partners the Sustainable Community Development Group and the Ferguson Group. Presentations highlighted ways for undercapitalized communities to avoid liability and take advantage of available resources in order to overcome brownfields barriers.
- New Jersey – Area in Need of Redevelopment - Donna Rendeiro, New Jersey Dept of Community Affairs
- Steering Clear of Liability in New Jersey – Roxanne E. Jayne, Sterns and Weinroth, PC
- Qualifying for the Innocent Landowner, Developer, and Public Agency Liability Protections, Phillip E. Bross, Parker McCay
- CDC and Brownfields Redevelopment in Orange, NJ - From Abandonment to Opportunity, Patrick Morrissy, Hands, Inc
- Brownfields, the Local Government Role, J. R. Capasso, City of Trenton
- Brownfields – Working with the Private Sector,” Leah Yasenchack, Brownfields Redevelopment Solutions; Jorge Berkowitz, Ph.D, Langan Engineering and Environmental; Lawra Dodge, Excell Environmental
- Environmental Liability Considerations in New Jersey, Phillip E. Bross, Parker McCay
4. Tampa Workshop: Building Strong Neighborhoods -- Brownfields Redevelopment in Undercapitalized Communities.
The Northeast-Midwest Institute sponsored a workshop in Tampa, Florida on March 19, 2008 to examine communities and neighborhoods historically marked by poverty, joblessness, and disinvestment. The Disadvantaged Communities Network hosted this one-day regional workshop that offered tools for disadvantaged communities to overcome barriers to redevelopment. Links to presentations from the workshop are listed below:
5. Webcasts: Tools for Revitalizating Disadvantaged Communities
The Disadvantaged Brownfields Communities Network hosted two interactive webcasts to provide distressed urban and rural communities with tools for the revitalization of contaminated and blighted properties.
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Building the Business Case for Brownfields Redevelopment in Underserved Communities
October 28, 2008
On Tuesday, October 28, 2008, the Disadvantaged Brownfields Communities Network hosted the first in its series of two 60-minute webcasts, Building the Business Case for Brownfields Redevelopment in Underserved Communities. The webcast explained how communities are using inner-city market analysis to reveal the hidden strengths of traditionally undervalued neighborhoods. The webcast also explained how community-based development corporations, municipalities, counties, and other economic development organizations have been able to fill their finance expertise gaps with senior and retired volunteers who have investment banking and capital markets experience. Webcast speakers included:
- John Talmage, President and CEO, Social Compact, Washington, DC; and
- John Nelson, Managing Partner, Wall Street Without Walls, Washington, DC.
- Using Land Banks as a Strategy to Spur Brownfields Redevelopment
October 30, 2008
On Thursday, October 30, 2008, the Disadvantaged Brownfields Communities Network hosted the second in its series of two 60-minute webcasts, Using Land Banks as a Strategy to Spur Brownfields Redevelopment. The concept of a land bank is to acquire and purchase vacant and underutilized property in order to redevelop the land for productive use. The webcast examined how communities have developed and implemented land banking strategies, and identified the benefits of establishing community improvement corporations and land banks to help revitalize abandoned properties in a non-traditional manner. Webcast speakers included:
- Kevin O’Brien, Executive Director, Great Lakes Environmental Finance Center, OH;
- Dan Kildee, Treasurer, Genesee County & Chairperson, Genesee County Land Bank, MI; and;
- Eric Schertzing, Treasurer, Ingham County & Chairperson, Ingham County Land Bank, MI.
Brownfields Communities Network
Founded
by a group of the nation's leading local brownfield leaders, the
Brownfield Communities Network is a national network of local communities
working to demonstrate how the cleanup and reuse of contaminated
property can be an effective tool for community revitalization.
The Network is working to harness the substantial knowledge, expertise,
and experience of the nation's leading brownfields communities developed
during the past decade and export it to their peers.
The Brownfield
Communities Network promotes the cleanup and reuse of brownfields
by:
- Providing
a forum for communities across the nation to overcome brownfield
barriers and share lessons learned regarding tools, strategies,
resources and partnerships
- Providing
technical assistance and training to local communities and other
stakeholders
- Showcasing
examples of successful local brownfields programs and projects
- Developing
new approaches to overcome obstacles to brownfields reuse
- Communicating
the views of local communities on state and national brownfields
issues
The Network is managed by the National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals (NALGEP):
202-638-6254 • fax: 202-393-2866
email: nalgep@spiegelmcd.com
Brownfields Communities Network Brochure
Congressional Briefings
Research Organizations and Professional Associations
Overview
of the Brownfields Program
History and
Overview
The Northeast-Midwest
Institute has been at the forefront of brownfield policy development
and information dissemination since the early 1990s, when the Institute
organized the first brownfields conference in Chicago in 1991 and
published the landmark New Life For Old Buildings. This report
was the first to analyze the legal, regulatory, and financial barriers
to cleaning up and reusing old industrial sites. Intense regional
and national interest in the implications of brownfields for urban
redevelopment and environmental cleanup led the Institute to launch
an ongoing research program to identify the impacts of federal and
state policies and programs on community revitalization efforts
and suggest opportunities for improvement.
Constituency
The Institute
is unique among policy centers because of its ties to Congress through
the Northeast-Midwest Congressional and Senate Coalitions. Co-chaired
by Representatives Jim Oberstar (D-MN) and Steven LaTourette (R-OH)
and Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jack Reed (D-RI), the bipartisan
coalitions advance federal policies that enhance the region's economy
and environment.
Northeast-Midwest Coalition members have introduced
numerous legislative proposals to provide regulatory certainty and
financial assistance needed for brownfield cleanup and reuse. Coalition
members also have pushed to ensure full funding and flexibility
for brownfield programs at the Environmental Protection Agency and
the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Many of these proposals
were based on the Institute's brownfield research and site visits.
In addition to the Coalitions, Institute staff work closely with
local, state, and federal officials, private sector investors and
developers, manufacturers, nonprofit organizations, academics, community
development organizations, and other brownfield advocates and stakeholders.
Accomplishments
Since the brownfield program's inception, the Institute has organized
more than a dozen forums around the country, cosponsored by members
of Congress, and convened and participated in scores of informational
and outreach workshops. The Institute also has published many reports
on all aspects of brownfields, including nearly 100 case studies
of successful brownfield cleanup and redevelopment, examining projects
in cities around the country. These success stories convey key "lessons
learned" that can be shared with other jurisdictions and opportunities
to advance brownfields cleanup and reuse through coordination of
planning, funding, and parallel private/public local revitalization
efforts.
In 1997, the Institute published Lessons
from the Field: Unlocking Economic Potential with an Environmental
Key;
this acclaimed report is the Institute's best example of case study
research in brownfield policy. This work provided an initial
roadmap, and helped lead to the tremendous growth in the field of
brownfields redevelopment. As the field grew there was an
increasing need for more sophisticated and specialized
information. The Institute met and continues to meet this
challenge by undertaking a series of research pieces aimed toward
advancing the state of knowledge and the practice of brownfields
redevelopment.
In
December 2006, Congress extended the Brownfields Expensing Deduction
through 2007 and expanded the program to include petroleum cleanups.
The brownfields tax expensing law, Section 198 of the Tax Code,
makes cleanup expenditures deductible in the year that the expenses
were incurred. This approach, originally adopted in the Community
Renewal Act of 2000, treats cleanup of "hazardous substances" as a
"repair" to the land, rather than a "capital expenditure" that must be
depreciated over time.
Contact
Evans
Paull, Senior Policy Analyst, epaull@nemw.org
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