Get Community Based Brownfield Action Plan-West Fresno, CA - Epa

Social and Economic Revitalisation Large brownfield sites can provide affordable housing, create employment opportunities, promote conservation efforts and add new social areas, such as playgrounds, playing fields or sitting areas.

Brownfields are underutilized properties where reuse is hindered by the actual or suspected presence of pollution. Cleanup and redevelopment of these sites benefits communities by removing the threats to human health and the environment, stimulating economic growth, and revitalizing neighborhoods.

A brownfields agreement is designed to break environmental liability barriers that hinder a developer's ability to obtain project financing. The agreement specifies actions to be conducted by the developer that are based on making the site suitable for the use intended.

The General Accounting Office has estimated that there are over 450,000 Brownfield properties in the United States.

Examples include lands that are formerly used for commercial and industrial purposes, such as former gas stations, former dry cleaning establishments, metal plating facilities, abandoned factories, former factories, and landfills, among others.

Definition of a Brownfield Site. With certain legal exclusions and additions, the term "brownfield site" means 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.