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Forging Partnerships
Forging Partnerships
- Leverage Technical/ Financial Resources
- Create Demand for Cleaned Up Properties
- Improve / Coordinate Government Efforts
- Promote Sustainability
Improve/Coordinate Government Efforts
Federal Partnerships
EPA and its federal partners are committed to work together in a timely
manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields.
The result is the Brownfields
Federal Partnership Action Agenda (PDF) (41
pp, 253K, About PDF) which is a compilation of over 100 commitments that
the more than 20 participating federal agencies will undertake in partnership
to help communities deal with brownfields and associated problems. The
Partnership established the Federal Brownfields Interagency Working Group
to address brownfields cleanup and redevelopment issues in a more coordinated
approach and to link environmental protection with economic development
and community revitalization. The Interagency Working Group has:
- Designated 16 Showcase Communities to serve as models for cooperative efforts to support local brownfields initiatives.
- Signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to establish policies and
procedures
between agencies and support
projects of mutual interest. - Tapped redevelopment resources by integrating brownfields into their
planning processes,
ensuring that brownfields cleanup and redevelopment are eligible expense for their project funds. - Offered technical assistance to communities in order to expedite
the cleanup and
redevelopment of property. - Brownfields Federal Partnerships
- Superfund Partnerships
Department
of Housing and Urban Development
EPA has partnered with the U.S. Department of Housing to promote affordable
housing redevelopment activities on formerly contaminated properties under
the Brownfields
Federal Partnership Action Agenda (PDF) (41
pp, 253K, About PDF). Specifically, EPA and HUD have joined forces in a
research project under the Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative
to better understand the impact that environmental hazards and the environmental
regulatory process may have on urban redevelopment.
EPA and HUD have also partnered with the Department of Labor to collaborate on the Superfund STEP-UP program which facilitates training and employment opportunities for community residents in the environmental cleanup field.
U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
In July 2002, EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers entered into a
memorandum
of understanding (PDF) (4 pp, 221K, About PDF)
to address water quality issues, economic revitalization, and the public
use and enjoyment of urban rivers. The two agencies agreed to designate
eight (8) demonstration pilot projects to coordinate the planning and
implementation of urban
river cleanup and restoration.
The
Portfields Initiative (PDF) (16 pp, 1.9MB, About PDF)
The Portfields Initiative is a federal interagency effort led by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) aimed at working with port
communities in revitalizing waterfront areas, improving marine transportation
(such as barges), and restoring and protecting coastal resources. Three
port cities are receiving federal support in the cleanup and reuse of
Brownfields contaminated properties: New Bedford, Mass.; Tampa, Fla.;
and Bellingham, Wash. The federal agencies involved in partnership with
NOAA on Portfields are: EPA; the Economic Development Administration;
the Maritime Administration; the Department of Labor; the Army Corps of
Engineers; the Department of Interior; and the Department of Housing and
Urban Development.