Brownfields/Superfund

Latest News & Updates

Issue Summary

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), or Superfund program, through its Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) in cooperation with individual states and tribal governments. The Superfund program seeks to locate, investigate, and clean up the worst hazardous waste sites throughout the United States. In some cases, local governments may be held liable for contamination at a site based on their role as a past or current owner or operator of a contaminated site (e.g., a municipal landfill), or as a generator or transporter of hazardous substances sent to a site. However, in recent years, EPA has developed certain policies that address or limit some aspects of a municipality's CERCLA liability. Local governments may also be reimbursed for responses to emergencies involving hazardous substances and oil.

In addition, EPA has recently been focusing not only on the cleanup of Superfund sites, but also on how local governments can reuse less-contaminated sites, or brownfields. Brownfields are industrial and commercial sites that are abandoned or underused because of real or perceived contamination. Communities across the country face the challenge of putting these idle sites back to use, from old industrial cities with thousands of acres of abandoned factories to rural villages built around mines or timber mills. Brownfields are a valuable community resource whose redevelopment can bring important benefits to economically depressed communities. The resources below provide essential information on Superfund and brownfields that can assist in the cleanup and reuse of contaminated and/or abandoned sites.

Resources

U.S. EPA

Brownfields and Land Revitalization. The EPA brownfields Web site is a comprehensive site that offers information such as news and events, projects and initiatives as well as links to EPA Regional brownfields homepages.

EPA OSRE - Brownfields and Land Revitalization Website. EPA's Office of Site Remediation Enforcement (OSRE) offers resources on brownfields and land revitalization, covering a broad range of topics from liability concerns and protections to EPA's ER3 initiative.

EPA's RCRA Brownfields Web Site. The EPA has launched a new Web site to promote the cleanup and reuse of brownfield properties across the nation that are regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Called the RCRA Brownfields Prevention Initiative Web site, it will provide easy access to useful information about the reuse of brownfield properties where hazardous waste was generated, treated, stored or disposed. The RCRA Brownfields Prevention Initiative links RCRA facilities with the brownfields program to help use economic redevelopment as an engine that drives environmental cleanup. The Web site includes information on success stories, upcoming events, pilot programs, as well as general information about the initiative and other EPA laws and regulations.

Superfund. EPA's Superfund homepage contains information on Superfund technical resources, programs, frequently asked questions, and more. Visit this site

Other Federal Agencies/Programs

Brownfields Technology Support Center. This Web site provides the expertise and information necessary to help brownfields decision-makers determine whether innovative options are available and feasible for their sites.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD hosts this Web page with information about the department's brownfields initiatives.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). NIEHS's Superfund Basic Research Program Web site contains information on the health risks of hazardous waste exposure and development of new technology for remediation of contaminated sites.

States/Local Governments

City of Portland, Oregon. Brownfields Online is the Web site for the Oregon Brownfields Initiative of the City of Portland.

Organizations/Non-Government Programs

International City/County Management Association (ICMA). ICMA's Research and Development Department has undertaken a number of brownfields research projects to assist local government managers with issues related to brownfields.

Northeast-Midwest Institute . The Northeast-Midwest Institute maintains this Web site about brownfields and economic development. The site includes sections on legislative activity, a summary of their brownfields work, and other links.

The Brownfields Center. The Brownfields Center, a cooperative effort of the Univerity of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, seeks to improve the brownfields revitalization process by enabling scholars of engineering, the social sciences, economics and the arts to develop a comprehensive, multi-level understanding of the challenges facing community leaders as they seek to return brownfields to productive use.

Publications

Brownfields and Utility Sites: A Primer for Local Governments. Produced by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), this free report details some of the unique issues involved in redeveloping properties owned or formerly-owned by oil, gas, and electric utility companies. The study highlights the brownfields redevelopment at manufactured gas plant sites as a model for sites such as electrical utility sites that have not historically undergone much redevelopment.

Databases and Tools

National Priorities List. Search for information on NPL Sites in the United States.

Financial Assistance

Funding Guidance for State and Tribal Response Programs for Fiscal Year 2009. Section 128(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), as amended, authorizes a noncompetitive $50 million grant program to establish and enhance state and tribal response programs. Generally, these response programs address the assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of brownfields sites and other sites with actual or perceived contamination.

EPA Funds New Round of Brownfields Training, Research and Technical Assistance Grants. EPA is providing $1.5 million of funding for new Brownfields Training, Research, and Technical Assistance Grants. This money will provide information, training, tools, and technical assistance to brownfields stakeholders.

Final FY2009 Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup Grant Guidelines. These grants may be used to address sites contaminated by petroleum and hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants (including hazardous substances co-mingled with petroleum).