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Return to Use Initiative
Additional RTU Information
An Initiative to Help Communities Reuse Cleaned Up Superfund Sites
Overview
Background
Activities to Date
RTU Demonstration Projects
EPA developed the Return to Use (RTU) Initiative in late 2004 as a critical element of the Agency's Superfund Redevelopment activities. The RTU Initiative is designed to remove barriers to appropriate reuse at those Superfund sites where cleanup has been completed. Many of these sites remain idle or underutilized, and could be subject to damage by trespassers or vandals. Barriers to appropriate reuse include:
- lack of understandable information about the site
- stigma of being a Superfund site
- liability concerns
- complex ownership issues
- understanding what uses might be appropriate for the site.
Appropriate reuse of these sites can:
- allow the community to regain lost land as valuable open space,
- add recreational amenities or commercial property,
- prevent sites from becoming targets for midnight dumping, vandalism, and destructive trespassing,
- remove any lingering disincentives associated with vacant sites, and
- increase values of surrounding property and augment the tax base.
As part of the RTU Initiative, EPA, for example:
- provides the public with site reuse profiles, information sheets and assessments;
- works with surrounding communities to establish processes for determining appropriate reuses;
- supplies information to potential purchasers; and
- determines technical needs to properly design and reuse the site.
In 1999, Superfund Redevelopment began with the goal of working with local stakeholders and partners at every cleanup site so that the Agency can consider likely future uses of sites before cleanup remedies have been selected. This approach gave the Agency the best chance, where practicable and cost effective, of selecting remedies that are consistent with the reasonably anticipated future use of the site, and gives communities the best opportunity to productively use sites following cleanup. However, with its focus on sites where remedies were not yet implemented, Superfund Redevelopment did not address the many communities that have vacant sites where construction of the remedy is already complete. There are over 500 construction-complete sites. Many of them remain idle or underutilized and remedies could be subject to damage due to trespassing or inappropriate activities. The RTU Initiative was designed to focus on these sites.
As part of the Initiative, EPA is committed to working with stakeholders interested in the reuse of sites in order to move forward with the identification of protective reuses that do not require costly changes to remedies. Activities have included:
- Modifying fences - Some fences may no longer be needed, or wanted by site owners, because the remedies have succeeded and risk has decreased over time; in other cases, gates may be added to allow pedestrians to enter for appropriate activities, like jogging, while still keeping out motorized vehicles that might damage the remedies.
- Providing information to address local concerns about environmental conditions at the sites - Information about the status of a particular site can give local communities, developers, or site owners the confidence to move ahead with its reuse. Site reuse profiles, Ready for Reuse (RfR) Determinations, and comfort letters are examples of the many tools used by the Agency for this purpose. A site reuse profile, which is used in some regions, highlights a site's background, environmental history, and reuse status. An RfR Determination is an environmental status report written in clear language that is designed to provide important information about a site so it can be used without compromising protection for people and the environment. Comfort letters provide information about the site and can clarify liability issues for prospective purchasers and site owners.
- Eliminating misleading signs and unnecessary obstacles - "Keep Out" signs and barbed wire send a strong message that an area is dangerous. They may be unnecessary when the responsible EPA site manager concludes that conditions at the site no longer merit that judgment. Eliminating these potent symbols, when the responsible EPA officials confirm that they don't reflect reality, can open the door to reuse.
- Implementing institutional controls - In many cases, the remedy that EPA has selected for a site may require institutional controls to be implemented by other authorities. Where the authorities responsible for implementing the controls have not done so, and where their inaction is standing in the way of the reuse of the site, the community-based effort to return the site to use often provides the impetus to get the required controls in place so that reuse can proceed.
Establishing partnerships with communities and other stakeholders to address potential obstacles to reuse is the focus of the Initiative. These site-specific partnerships, referred to as demonstration projects, can be as formal or informal as communities wish. Projects have ranged from a informal consultation between community representatives and EPA personnel, to a memorandum of understanding between Regional offices and local stakeholders.
In 2004, EPA established 11 demonstration projects across the country where local stakeholders, including community groups, government officials, site owners and potentially responsible parties (PRPs), worked with EPA to achieve appropriate site reuse. In 2006, EPA established 19 more demonstration projects in six Regions. These demonstration projects continue to provide valuable lessons for communities and other stakeholders seeking to reuse Superfund sites and about the tools and resources that are available to help them. In addition to identifying potential barriers to reuse at the demonstration projects, EPA continues to support reuse efforts at the original 11 projects.
During the first years of the Initiative, EPA has learned that it has the capability to help communities working to address barriers to reuse through activities that range beyond the modification of fences and implementation of institutional controls. The demonstration projects are showing that interest in reuse can be the impetus to get institutional controls implemented by the authorities responsible for implementing them. The demonstration projects have also shown that barriers at many sites include doubts about reuse stemming from the legacy of contamination, site ownership questions, and uncertainty about what kinds of future uses are appropriate.
More information about the demonstration projects.