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

Sustainable Recovery 

After Natural Disasters

E

PA is assisting several community-led efforts to build energy 

efficiency and sustainability into 

post-disaster redevelopment plans. 

EPA is one of 16 federal agencies 

involved in the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency’s (FEMA) 

Emergency Support Function (ESF) 

#14 (Long-Term Community Recovery) under the National Response 

Framework. 

Created in response to Hurricanes 

Katrina and Rita, ESF #14 is a community-based process that facilitates 

multiple stakeholder involvement in 

post-disaster recovery decisions and 

enables communities to prepare for 

long-term recovery needs. The result 

of the long-term community recovery 

process often is a plan, strategy, or 

framework that allows the community 

to articulate a vision and rally around 

goals, objectives, and initiatives that 

move the community toward a shared 

vision for recovery. 

Under ESF #14, EPA headquarters and 

regional offices are providing technical assistance, supporting community visioning charrettes, and helping 

communities plan and implement 

policies, strategies, and practices 

for sustainable recovery after natural 

disasters. 

Region 7 was the first EPA Region 

tapped by FEMA to offer long-term 

community disaster recovery assistance under ESF #14. Region 7 staff 

participated in an interagency team 

that worked closely with residents, local 

government, local businesses, and 

other stakeholders in the small, rural 

community of Greensburg, Kansas, that 

was devastated by a tornado in May 

2007. EPA Region 7 staff also offered 

sustainable recovery assistance to six 

small communities in eastern Iowa as 

they developed a vision for a greener 

future after major floods tore through 

their communities in 2008.

EPA Region 8 and headquarters staff 

worked with FEMA under ESF #14 

in North Dakota in 2010 to help the 

Spirit Lake Tribe build a comprehensive recovery plan. This was the 

first time that FEMA, EPA, and other 

federal partners provided comprehensive post-disaster ESF #14 recovery assistance to a tribe. The plan 

will guide tribal community long-term 

recovery from several years of flooding in Devil’s Lake. 

EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities 

is providing training and capacity-building assistance to the tribe on planning 

for sustainable living. Region 8’s Partnership for Sustainable Communities with 

the U.S. Departments of Transportation 

(DOT) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is developing a strategy 

to assist the tribe with recovery once 

implementation work begins. 

The goal of EPA’s activities in support 

of ESF #14 is to help these and 

other disaster-impacted communities in adopting smart growth, green 

infrastructure, and green building 

practices as well as developing landuse policies to rebuild and plan for 

growth that is good for the environment, community, and the economy.
United States Office of Solid Waste and EPA 560-F-11-017

Environmental Protection Emergency Response April 2011

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

More Information:

Visit FEMA’s Long-term Recovery and ESF #14 web site: http://www.fema.gov/rebuild/ltcr/index.shtm

Visit the Partnership for Sustainable Communities web site at: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/partnership/

Visit EPA’s Land Revitalization program web site at: http://www.epa.gov/landrevitalization/

Sustainable Redevelopment Planned for Iowa City’s

Riverfront Crossings District

EPA Region 7’s Land Revitalization Team 

is assisting Iowa City in designing a 

conceptual redevelopment plan for a 

10-square block portion of its Riverfront 

Crossings District. The district includes 

several brownfields and a wastewater 

treatment plant that will be decommissioned over the next several years. As 

part of this effort, contractors working 

with Region 7 and EPA headquarters 

staff are helping the city develop a 

plan for inventorying, assessing, and 

remediating brownfields in the target 

area. The plan is expected to become 

final in mid-2011.

While a portion of the EPA project area 

lies in the 100-year floodplain, the area 

outside of the floodplain is being considered for a combination of retail and 

affordable housing opportunities linked to 

a proposed Amtrak station and a possible 

light rail line. The conceptual redevelopment plan also envisions a new urban park 

on the site where the wastewater treatment 

plant now stands. The redevelopment plan 

will transform the area into a high-density, 

mixed-use, pedestrian friendly, transitoriented neighborhood. Cleaning up the 

property, reusing the land, and providing 

new housing choices will create jobs and 

new economic opportunities in Iowa City. 

The project in Iowa City is one of five 

pilots under the interagency Partnership 

for Sustainable Communities, an agreement between HUD, DOT, and EPA to 

help communities identify opportunities 

to link housing, transit, and brownfields 

revitalization. The pilot grew out of EPA’s 

partnership with FEMA to address longterm recovery after major floods hit 

the area in 2008. As a result, EPA, HUD, 

DOT, and FEMA are working together 

to coordinate resources and provide 

expert assistance to help Iowa City build 

a sustainable future. 

Region 7 also is providing long-term 

disaster recovery assistance to the 

communities of Coralville, Cedar 

Falls, Cedar Rapids, New Hartford and 

Waverly, Iowa. Assistance includes 

supporting community design 

charrettes, developing plans for new 

green infrastructure to improve stormwater management, and helping 

the communities review and propose 

improvements to existing policies and 

codes that will promote better land use 

and smart growth.

New Arts Center made from

recycled material

Helping Put the “Green” in Greensburg, Kansas

Conceptual Redevelopment Plan 

for part of the district

In Greensburg, EPA Region 7 staff 

worked with a multi-stakeholder “green 

team” that spearheaded a communitybased effort to develop a sustainable 

redevelopment plan. The plan includes 

rebuilding all municipal buildings of 

more than 4,000 square feet to the 

Leadership in Energy Efficient Design 

(LEED) platinum standard. The plan 

also calls for rebuilding the community 

recycling center, creating a center on 

sustainability, developing a sustainable master plan, and promoting the 

adoption of a voluntary green business 

and green home plan for Greensburg. 

The plan also calls for using renewable 

energy whenever possible. 

Today, Greensburg is doing exactly what 

the city’s motto says: “Rebuilding Stronger, 

Better, Greener.” The new arts center, made 

of recycled materials, is the first building in 

Kansas to receive a LEED platinum rating, 

and Greensburg’s new municipal center is 

the first in the nation built to meet the LEED 

platinum standard. Several other buildings 

received or are awaiting final LEED certification. Greensburg also built a wind farm that 

can generate enough electricity to power 

4,000 homes—in a town with only 1,400 

residents. Extra energy will be sold to the 

Kansas Power Pool. 

Greensburg’s progress toward realizing its 

goal of becoming “the greenest town in 

America” also boosted the local economy 

by attracting eco-tourists from throughout the world who are eager to see what 

sustainable revitalization looks like in 

practice.