New Environmental Solutions

EPA’s land revitalization initiatives are producing significant environmental benefits 

and helping to transform communities into more sustainable and livable places. 

The strategy of encouraging market-driven redevelopment of brownfields and 

other contaminated sites for economic reuse is proving to be a successful 

approach at many sites. However, challenging real estate markets and economic 

realities can leave some formerly contaminated properties unused, possibly for 

a long time. New approaches are needed to revitalize these sites and protect 

human health and the environment.

EPA’s Land Revitalization Team is working with communities, states, other federal 

agencies, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector to 

develop and test new approaches that recognize valuable reuse alternatives for 

formerly contaminated properties. Building green infrastructure to help manage 

stormwater runoff and floods, promoting safe soil management to support urban 

agriculture, and siting renewable energy on contaminated sites can bring environmental, ecological, and social benefits to communities. Unlocking the potential 

value of these underused properties often requires creativity and close collaboration 

with many public and private partners. These projects can help stabilize communities 

and spur economic development.

Land Revitalization Fact Sheet

Revitalization in 

Tribal Communities

Many tribes recognize that brownfields can be turned into valuable community assets and opportunities for revitalization. Cleaning up and 

reinvesting in contaminated sites can 

promote economic development and 

create jobs while improving and protecting the environment. The challenge 

is finding ways to use these assets to 

sustainably revitalize tribal lands while 

preserving cultural values and meeting 

community needs.

Tribes with brownfields on their lands 

encounter problems similar to those faced 

by many small communities. They often 

lack the financial or technical resources 

available to larger cities, and may not have 

the redevelopment drivers that might spur 

cleanup and reuse in larger communities.

Tribes also face unique circumstances 

when addressing brownfields on their 

lands. Each of the 565 federally recognized tribes within the United States is an 

independent, sovereign nation responsible for setting standards and managing 

environmental programs for its people. 

Each tribe’s history and culture and the 

complexity of jurisdictional issues present 

challenges to addressing environmental 

issues and promoting revitalization. 

EPA Regions and EPA’s Brownfields and 

Land Revitalization Program work closely 

with the Office of Sustainable Communities and other EPA offices, federal 

partners, and local stakeholders to 

support tribes. These programs provide 

technical assistance and tools to help 

tribes build their capacity to address 

environmental issues and realize their 

economic revitalization goals.

PETROLEUM BROWNFIELDS ARE KEY TO ZUNI PUEBLO’S NEW 

“MAIN STREET” REVITALIZATION 

A new toolkit, Equitable Redevelopment 

of Petroleum Brownfields for Zuni Pueblo 

and Other Tribal Communities compiles 

best practices and principles from petroleum brownfields redevelopment, smart 

growth, and equitable development into 

a planning-level toolkit organized into a 

step-by-step revitalization process. Each 

step offers a menu of strategies that 

can be tailored to the specific needs 

and context of each community. The 

toolkit also identifies numerous online 

resources with additional information, 

examples, and models related to each 

step in the process. 

The toolkit was inspired by three petroleum brownfield sites within the Zuni 

Pueblo, the specific needs of the Zuni 

community, and the unique circumstances tribes face when confronting 

petroleum brownfields. It is the product 

of a partnership between the Zuni Pueblo, 

EPA Region 6, and the Office of Sustainable 

Communities’ Smart Growth Program, Office 

of Underground Storage Tanks, and Office 

of Brownfields and Land Revitalization.

Although it was created for the Zuni Pueblo, 

the toolkit can be used by other tribes and 

rural communities. It shows how cleanup 

and redevelopment of small petroleum 

brownfields can foster a larger communityled revitalization effort. 

The project began several years ago.

The Zuni Pueblo asked EPA Region 6 for 

assistance addressing environmental 

contamination at the Black Rock Airport 

hanger, a brownfield site managed by 

the Zuni tribal government. Built in the 

1960s, the airport provides access to the 

remote Zuni Pueblo and is surrounded 

by a residential neighborhood with 

several commercial businesses. It also 

housed a gasoline station with underground storage tanks that must be 

removed. The site is being assessed by 

the Northwest New Mexico Council of 

Governments under an EPA brownfields 

assessment coalition grant. Even if a 

new runway continues to operate after 

the site is cleaned up, the surrounding 

Closed Chevron gas station,

Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico
United States Office of Solid Waste and EPA 560-F-13-036

Environmental Protection Emergency Response May 2013

Agency (5105T) www.epa.gov/brownfields/

More Information:

EPA Land Revitalization Program: http://www.epa.gov/landrevitalization/

SPIRIT LAKE NATION’S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PLAN IS “A 

JOURNEY FROM THE PAST TO THE FUTURE”

In December 2012, the Spirit Lake 

Nation of North Dakota adopted a new 

framework for sustainable development 

that includes initial components of a 

comprehensive plan; provides planning 

guidance; and identifies land use, 

housing, transportation, and economic 

development options. A Sustainable 

Development Framework for Spirit Lake 

Nation also outlines a process the tribe 

can follow to develop a full, comprehensive plan for future development. 

One Spirit Lake Nation tribal elder 

described the tribe’s comprehensive 

planning efforts as “a journey from the 

past to the future.”

In 2010, the Spirit Lake Nation asked 

President Obama for assistance with 

recovery from repeated flooding of 

Spirit Lake, also known as Devil’s Lake. 

For about 20 years, the lake regularly 

flooded reservation lands and surrounding communities. Following federal 

disaster declarations, the Federal 

Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 

convened a group of federal partners, 

including EPA Region 8 and the Office of 

Sustainable Communities, to help the tribe 

develop a plan for long-term recovery. It 

was the first time that FEMA, EPA, and other 

federal partners provided comprehensive post-disaster long-term community 

recovery assistance to a tribe under FEMA’s 

National Disaster Recovery Framework. 

The tribe adopted The Spirit Lake Nation’s 

Recovery Plan—a list of more than 49 

projects and potential resources—in 

December 2010. All involved recognized 

that more work had to be done before the 

Spirit Lake Nation could realize tangible 

results from its recovery plan. The tribe 

invited EPA and other partners to help them 

on their journey.

In 2012, EPA convened a meeting with 

federal partners, state agencies and 

EPA’s expert consultants to help the tribe 

develop its comprehensive plan to address 

the needs identified in the 2010 Recovery 

Plan. EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities provided leadership, technical assistance and training and capacity-building 

assistance on planning for sustainable 

living. EPA Region 8 also provided technical 

assistance to enhance the tribe’s financial 

management programs and help identify 

additional revitalization resources. 

EPA and federal partners supported 

several “mini” charrettes hosted by the 

tribe with the tribal community, Tribal 

Council, and elders. These meetings 

produced a community-wide expression of 

sustainability-based principles and designs 

for the Spirit Lake Nation’s sustainable 

development framework. EPA Region 8’s 

Partnership for Sustainable Communities 

with the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development developed a strategy to assist the 

tribe with recovery and with implementation of the recovery plan and framework. The partnership continues to help 

the tribe leverage resources and ensure 

continued disaster-resilient, sustainable 

development. 

The sustainable development framework adopted in December 2012 

includes maps and drawings that show 

the location and desired character of 

projects and future growth. It outlines 

next steps, including several actions 

that the tribe can initiate immediately. 

Several recovery projects currently are 

under way, including a major “green 

homes” development. The tribe was 

awarded $900,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to partially fund replacement of a 

waste water treatment system at risk of 

failure from the rising lake. As a result of 

the effort, the tribe plans to site future 

development in areas that are not 

subject to flooding.

(For more information, see the recovery 

plan at: http://www.spiritlakenation.com/

Documents/Spirit%20Lake%20Nation%20

Recovery%20Plan.pdf and the development framework at: http://www.spiritlakenation.com/Documents/12_0930_Framework.pdf.)

area could be redeveloped to address 

a number of community needs.

Two former gas stations located nearby 

also could be redeveloped because of 

their key location along State Highway 

53, which bisects the pueblo and serves 

as its “Main Street.” Both are near the 

Zuni Pueblo’s Middle Village, the historic 

district where most of the pueblo’s local 

businesses and tribal arts trading posts 

are located. The central locations of the 

airport and gas stations led the tribe to 

consider redeveloping them as a single 

unit that would help to revitalize the whole 

area. Together, the sites offer an opportunity to promote a mix of commercial and 

related land uses that would serve the tribe’s 

needs and promote tourism in the area 

around a walkable “Main Street” concept. 

In July 2012, the National Trust for Historic 

Preservation designated the Zuni Pueblo 

as the first Native American “Main Street” 

community. It is one of 2,000 communities 

that receive assistance through the Main 

Street Program for revitalization of their 

business districts. Program staff help build 

the capacity of local Main Street programs, 

provide resources and technical assistance, 

and work with the National Trust Main Street 

Center to address revitalization challenges. 

The Zuni Pueblo and the Northwest New 

Mexico Council of Governments continue 

to work with EPA Region 6 to conduct 

environmental site assessments and 

clean up these three sites and other 

brownfields on the pueblo. EPA, its federal 

partners and other stakeholders are 

planning a “Building Partnerships for a 

Better Zuni” meeting in 2013. The meeting 

will bring together public and privatesector partners to identify opportunities 

and resources to help the Zuni Pueblo 

meet its environmental and community 

revitalization goals.