PROJECT: Brownfields

5th Annual VI Brownfields Forum     July 30, 2008 Westin Resort, St. John     Paving the Way For Redevelopment     Sponsored by the Division of Environmental Protection

A brownfield is a property of which the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. It is estimated that there are more than 450,000 brownfields in the United States.

Cleaning up and reinvesting in brownfield properties increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, utilizes existing infrastructure, takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment.

Initially, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided small amounts of seed money to local governments that launched hundreds of two-year brownfield "pilot" projects. Through passage of the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act, effective polices that EPA had developed over the years were passed into law. The Brownfields Law expanded EPA's assistance by providing new tools for the public and private sectors to promote sustainable brownfields cleanup and reuse.

Click here or see links below for information on the US Virgin Islands' Brownfields Initiative.