Brownfield Grant Writing Tip #14 - Begin With The End In Mind (Part 2)

Particularly as it relates to CLEANUP GRANT Proposals, it is important to consider potential redevelopment plans from the outset of any brownfield project. The redevelopment plan (or lack thereof) will govern most brownfield projects, from the identification of site investigation and cleanup standards and the ability to obtain financing to the ultimate affordability or profitability of the project. Defining and understanding the long-term goals of the brownfields project and the decisions to be made throughout the project is a crucial element in identifying appropriate technologies for site investigation and cleanup. Technology tools, when carefully selected, will assist those responsible for the brownfield project in collecting the data necessary to support such decisions and accomplish the established goals. During the many phases of a brownfield project, it is important to keep in mind that technology options are an effective means of achieving the desired result at a site, rather than an end in themselves. Brownfields projects may be initiated for a number of reasons. A landowner may want to sell a property to a prospective purchaser for development. A municipality may want to clean up a parcel or area that has become an eyesore, create space for business development, or create a park in a disadvantaged area. A local comprehensive plan may call for infill development of a certain type in a brownfield area. The brownfield process will be tailored to the specific end use, if that use is known. For example, if the redevelopment plan calls for the construction of a light industrial facility, it may be appropriate, depending on state and local regulatory requirements, to apply industrial investigation and cleanup standards that are less stringent than those applicable to property that is to be redeveloped for residential use. The standards required will affect every aspect of the project, from its overall cost (which is generally greater as the standards become more conservative) to the applicability of innovative characterization and cleanup technologies. Keep in mind, however, that new information about contamination or cleanup may require that reuse plans be altered; develop flexible plans so that revised cleanup needs can be incorporated into them. If the end use is not known at the beginning of the project, the individuals involved should make every attempt at least to identify the general type of desired development, whether industrial, commercial, or residential or a mixed-use development of some sort. Absent that information, the most conservative assumptions will be made at every stage of the brownfields project, a circumstance that could increase significantly the time and expense of the project and may even make it infeasible.