The EPA Brownfields Program Produces Widespread Environmental and Economic Benefits

EPA’s Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely cleanup, and sustainably reuse brownfields. Revitalizing brownfield sites creates benefits at the site and throughout the community.

Leveraging Money for Assessment, Cleanup and Revitalization of Brownfields
Based on data from grantee reporting and through the Program’s ACRES database, through fiscal year 2011, on average, $18.01 is leveraged for each EPA Brownfields dollar expended at a brownfield from Assessment, Cleanup, and Revolving Loan Fund cooperative agreements since Program inception.

Leveraging Jobs from EPA Brownfields Dollars Spent to Assess, Clean and Revitalize Brownfields
Based on data through fiscal year 2011, on average, 7.43 jobs are leveraged per $100,000 of EPA Brownfields funding expended on Assessment, Cleanup and Revolving Loan Fund cooperative agreements since program inception. As of April 2012, 75,590 jobs have been leveraged through the Brownfields Program including the State and Tribal 128(a) program since its inception.

Environmental (Air and Water) Benefits of Brownfields Redevelopment
The EPA Brownfields Program has conducted five pilot studies, which concluded that redeveloped brownfield sites tend to have greater location efficiency than alternative development scenarios at greenfield sites, resulting in a 32 to 57 percent reduction in vehicle miles traveled associated with these sites and a reduction in air pollution emissions, including greenhouse gases. These same site comparisons show an estimated 47 to 62 percent reduction in stormwater runoff. The studies suggest a range of impacts due to regional variation in development and travel patterns.

Additional Benefits of Brownfields Redevelopment
The EPA Brownfields Program has funded a study to assess the impact, or economic benefit, of  brownfields grants on residential property values. The study concluded that residential property values increased between 2 and 3 percent once a nearby brownfield was assessed or cleaned up. The study further concluded that cleaning up a brownfield can increase overall property values within a one mile radius by $0.5 to $1.5 million. Additionally, initial anecdotal surveys indicate a reduction in crime in recently revitalized brownfield areas.

Opportunity to Expand Assessment Program and Leverage from Benefits of Agency’s Removal Program
As is apparent from the numbers, there is a huge demand for site assessment work. The Program can expand upon recent policy clarifications to use site assessment dollars for environmental site assessments in conjunction with efforts to promote area-wide planning among areas and corridors of brownfield sites. The use of funds for these purposes is particularly important for economically distressed areas to enable the identification of infrastructure capacity along with potential end uses. Also, in certain instances when environmental site assessments reveal immediate threats to the environment or human health, a more programmatic use of EPA Removal funds to address these threats could be implemented.