Brownfield status
Encyclopedia
Brownfield status is a condition, within certain legal exclusions and additions, of 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, which may include petroleum hydrocarbon releases. Brownfield status generally means there are use or development restrictions on the site.
In town planning, brownfield land
is an area of land previously used or built upon, as opposed to greenfield land
which has never been built upon. Brownfield status is a legal designation which places restrictions, conditions or incentives on redevelopment.
estimates suggest there are over 500,000 brownfield sites contaminated at levels below the “Superfund
” caliber (the most contaminated sites) in the country. While historic land use patterns created contaminated sites, the Superfund law has been criticized as creating the brownfield phenomenon where investment moves to greenfields for new development due to severe, no-fault liability schemes and other disincentives to investment. To tackle this problem, the Clinton-Gore Administration and US EPA
launched a series of brownfield policies and programs in 1993, taking significant steps to clean up brownfields and return them to productive use.
has an estimated 200,000 contaminated sites across the nation. The provincial governments have primary responsibility for brownfields. The tools available to the provinces are limited, however, as there are no such things as “No Further Action” letters to give property owners finality and certainty in the cleanup and reuse process. Yet in spite of the limited legal mechanisms for managing risk and liability, Canada has cleaned up sites and attracted investment to contaminated lands such as the Moncton rail yards. A strip of the Texaco lands in Mississauga is slated to be part of the Waterfront Trail
, however Imperial Oil has no plans to sell the 75 acres (30.4 ha) property which has been vacant since the 1980s.
lacks the large land base which creates the magnitude of brownfield issues facing countries such as Germany and the U.S., brownfield sites in key locations critical to the local economies of Denmark’s cities require sophisticated solutions and careful interaction with affected communities. Examples include the cleanup and redevelopment of former and current ship building facilities along Copenhagen
’s historic waterfront. Laws in Denmark require a higher degree of coordination of planning and reuse than is found in many other countries.
loses greenfields at a rate of about 1.2 square kilometres per day for settlement and transportation infrastructure. Each of the approximately 14,700 local municipalities is empowered to allocate lands for industrial and commercial use. As a result, local control over reuse of brownfield sites in Germany is a critical factor in the reuse decision. Many industrial sites continue to be located at some distance from regular settlements, incurring costly overhead for providing infrastructure such as utilities, disposal services and transportation.
centuries of industrial use of lands which once formed the birthplace of the industrial revolution
have left entire regions in a brownfield status. Of greater concern is that after 25 years of effort and billions of pounds (UK), surveys suggest only about 8 square kilometres of land has been successfully cleaned up and reused. New legislation in the UK may provide a needed incentive for brownfield cleanup and redevelopment. Cleanup laws in the UK are centered on the premise that the remediation should be "fit for the purpose".
The primary issue facing all nations involved in attracting and sustaining new uses to brownfield sites is the recognition that new industries are globally oriented and respond to global market forces. This global economic reality directly affects brownfield reuse, such as limiting the effective economic life of the use on the revitalized sites.
Real property
In English Common Law, real property, real estate, realty, or immovable property is any subset of land that has been legally defined and the improvements to it made by human efforts: any buildings, machinery, wells, dams, ponds, mines, canals, roads, various property rights, and so forth...
, the expansion, redevelopment or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant, which may include petroleum hydrocarbon releases. Brownfield status generally means there are use or development restrictions on the site.
In town planning, brownfield land
Brownfield land
Brownfield sites are abandoned or underused industrial and commercial facilities available for re-use. Expansion or redevelopment of such a facility may be complicated by real or perceived environmental contaminations. Cf. Waste...
is an area of land previously used or built upon, as opposed to greenfield land
Greenfield land
Greenfield land is a term used to describe undeveloped land in a city or rural area either used for agriculture, landscape design, or left to naturally evolve...
which has never been built upon. Brownfield status is a legal designation which places restrictions, conditions or incentives on redevelopment.
United States
United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
estimates suggest there are over 500,000 brownfield sites contaminated at levels below the “Superfund
Superfund
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
” caliber (the most contaminated sites) in the country. While historic land use patterns created contaminated sites, the Superfund law has been criticized as creating the brownfield phenomenon where investment moves to greenfields for new development due to severe, no-fault liability schemes and other disincentives to investment. To tackle this problem, the Clinton-Gore Administration and US EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
launched a series of brownfield policies and programs in 1993, taking significant steps to clean up brownfields and return them to productive use.
Canada
CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
has an estimated 200,000 contaminated sites across the nation. The provincial governments have primary responsibility for brownfields. The tools available to the provinces are limited, however, as there are no such things as “No Further Action” letters to give property owners finality and certainty in the cleanup and reuse process. Yet in spite of the limited legal mechanisms for managing risk and liability, Canada has cleaned up sites and attracted investment to contaminated lands such as the Moncton rail yards. A strip of the Texaco lands in Mississauga is slated to be part of the Waterfront Trail
Waterfront Trail
The Waterfront Trail refers to an interconnected series of trails along the shores of Lake Ontario in Canada, currently beginning in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario and extending to Brockville, Ontario, with an extension along Former Highway 2, to the Quebec provincial border...
, however Imperial Oil has no plans to sell the 75 acres (30.4 ha) property which has been vacant since the 1980s.
Denmark
While DenmarkDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
lacks the large land base which creates the magnitude of brownfield issues facing countries such as Germany and the U.S., brownfield sites in key locations critical to the local economies of Denmark’s cities require sophisticated solutions and careful interaction with affected communities. Examples include the cleanup and redevelopment of former and current ship building facilities along Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
’s historic waterfront. Laws in Denmark require a higher degree of coordination of planning and reuse than is found in many other countries.
Germany
GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
loses greenfields at a rate of about 1.2 square kilometres per day for settlement and transportation infrastructure. Each of the approximately 14,700 local municipalities is empowered to allocate lands for industrial and commercial use. As a result, local control over reuse of brownfield sites in Germany is a critical factor in the reuse decision. Many industrial sites continue to be located at some distance from regular settlements, incurring costly overhead for providing infrastructure such as utilities, disposal services and transportation.
United Kingdom
In the UKUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
centuries of industrial use of lands which once formed the birthplace of the industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
have left entire regions in a brownfield status. Of greater concern is that after 25 years of effort and billions of pounds (UK), surveys suggest only about 8 square kilometres of land has been successfully cleaned up and reused. New legislation in the UK may provide a needed incentive for brownfield cleanup and redevelopment. Cleanup laws in the UK are centered on the premise that the remediation should be "fit for the purpose".
The primary issue facing all nations involved in attracting and sustaining new uses to brownfield sites is the recognition that new industries are globally oriented and respond to global market forces. This global economic reality directly affects brownfield reuse, such as limiting the effective economic life of the use on the revitalized sites.