Brownfield

In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use, whether contaminated or not. The term is also used to describe land previously used for industrial or commercial purposes with known or suspected pollution including soil contamination due to hazardous waste. In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use, whether contaminated or not. The term is also used to describe land previously used for industrial or commercial purposes with known or suspected pollution including soil contamination due to hazardous waste. Environment Canada defines brownfields as 'abandoned, idle or underutilized commercial or industrial properties where past actions have caused environmental contamination, but which still have potential for redevelopment or other economic opportunities.' The US EPA has defined brownfield not simply as a potential improvement site which has been previously improved, but also one that has potential impediments to improvement, such as 'the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant'. This comports well with an available general definition of the term, which scopes to 'industrial or commercial property'. The term brownfields first came into use on June 28, 1992, at a U.S. congressional field hearing hosted by the Northeast Midwest Congressional Coalition. Also in 1992, the first detailed policy analysis of the issue was convened by the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission. The United States Environmental Protection Agency selected Cuyahoga County as its first brownfield pilot project in September 1993.The term applies more generally to previously used land or to sections of industrial or commercial facilities that are to be upgraded. In 2002, President George W. Bush signed the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act (the “Brownfields Law”) which provides grants and tools to local governments for the assessment, cleanup, and revitalization of brownfields. The motivation for this act was the success of the EPA’s brownfields program, which it started in the 1990s in response to several court cases that caused lenders to redline contaminated property for fear of liability under the Superfund. As of September 2015, the EPA estimates that the Brownfields program has resulted in 56,442 acres of land readied for reuse. Mothballed brownfields are properties that the owners are not willing to transfer or put to productive reuse. Brownfield status is a legal designation which places restrictions, conditions or incentives on redevelopment and use on the site. In the United Kingdom, the term 'brownfield' has a colloquial meaning roughly equivalent to the American usage described above, i.e. vacant or derelict land or property, usually industrial in nature. In terms of British Town and Country Planning, however, the meaning of 'brownfield' is more complex, and is often conflated with the technical term 'previously developed land' (PDL). PDL was originally defined in planning policy for housing development in England and Wales, and was carefully distinguished in such policy from 'brownfield', which was undefined but considered to be different.:26 The definition from the 2012 National Planning Policy Guidance, which only applies to England, uses the terms 'brownfield' and 'previously developed land' interchangeably:'Land which is or was occupied by a permanent structure, including the curtilage of the developed land (although it should not be assumed that the whole of the curtilage should be developed) and any associated fixed surface infrastructure. This excludes: Generally, brownfield sites exist in a city's or town's industrial section, on locations with abandoned factories or commercial buildings, or other previously polluting operations like steel mills, refineries or landfills.Small brownfields also may be found in older residential neighborhoods, as for example dry cleaning establishments or gas stations produced high levels of subsurface contaminants.