Member Program Descriptions
    Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment

Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment

EPA's Brownfields Initiative's mission is to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic development to work together in a timely manner to assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is defined as "real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant." It does not include properties that are subject to the authority of other EPA cleanup programs such as Superfund, RCRA, and UST, or statutes such as the Toxic Substances Control Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002.

The Brownfield Tax Incentive in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.

Depending upon the conditions at a specific site and its redevelopment/reuse objectives, other environmental statutes may also apply.

Overall Purpose:
The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act (the Brownfields Law) was enacted by Congress to provide relief for small businesses from liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, to promote the assessment, cleanup and reuse of brownfields, to provide financial assistance for brownfields revitalization, and to enhance State response programs.

Under the Brownfields Tax Incentive, environmental cleanup costs for properties in distressed urban and rural areas are fully deductible in the year in which the costs are incurred, rather than having to be capitalized. The incentive was enacted to help promote cleanup and restoration of brownfield properties in the targeted areas.

Program Role in Protecting Ground Water:
Since the potential for ground water contamination is a concern at most hazardous waste sites, cleanup and redevelopment will usually involve ground water issues. The Brownfield Program's role with regard to ground water investigation and remediation is still under development. Currently, ground water remediation and protection measures at brownfield sites are determined on a site-by-site basis, based on applicable state and federal requirements.

EPA is in the process of developing an All Appropriate Inquiry Rule as required by the Brownfields Law. The rule will establish standards and practices for a property purchaser to follow when conducting inquiries into prior ownership and use of a property in order to avoid liability for hazardous substance releases.

Ground water remediation at Brownfields sites follow the policy and guidance directives of other cleanup programs such as CERCLA, RCRA, and other federal, state and tribal programs.

Areas of Flexibility:
Most Brownfields cleanup and reuse projects are implemented under state programs. Each state follows its own environmental laws and practices. States have the flexibility to accommodate reuse of a site within their own environmental policies. Some states provide assistance, including tax incentives, to encourage reuse.

The Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative funds a variety of pilot programs to assist states, communities, and stakeholders in assessing, preventing, cleaning up, and redeveloping brownfields sites. Assessment and cleanup pilots are each funded up to $200,000 per pilot over two years. The grants include funding for both hazardous substances and petroleum sites. Job training pilots provide grants of up to $200,000 per pilot over two years to assist in training residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field. Cleanup revolving loan fund pilots are provided to eligible entities (e.g., states, municipalities, tribes) to establish a revolving loan fund that will be used to make loans for authorized purposes (i.e., brownfields cleanup). Loan repayments are used to make new loans for the same authorized purposes. The revolving loan fund pilots provide up to $1 million per pilot. In 2004 EPA announced $75.4 million for a total of 155 assessment grants, 92 cleanup grants, and 18 revolving loan fund grants. In addition, 16 communities were awarded a total of $2.47 million in job training grants.

The RCRA Brownfields Prevention Initiative was established by EPA to encourage the reuse of RCRA facilities that are not in full use, where there is potential for redevelopment, and where reuse or redevelopment is slowed due to real or perceived concerns about actual or potential contamination. The program encourages reuse that better serves the needs of communities either through more productive commercial or residential redevelopment or as greenspace. A total of nine pilots have been launched since 2000.