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Brownfields Overview | Reports 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 Market Barriers to Sustainable Development Project Northeast-Midwest Institute is in a partnership with US EPA Region 5 and Delta Institute carrying out a project that is designed to define and help overcome the barriers to broad adoption of green building and sustainable development practices. The final report for the project is:
Working documents outlining some specific issues, as well as the workshop results, are as follows:
Northeast-Midwest Reports and Papers
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
Environmental and Economic Impacts of Brownfields Redevelopment Northeast-Midwest Reports and Papers
Environmental and Economic Impact Links to Research and Publications
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
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.
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 Revitalizing 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.
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:
The Network is managed by the National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals (NALGEP): 202-638-6254 • fax: 202-393-2866
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. ConstituencyThe 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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