Brownfields are former industrial sites, generally in and around cities that have levels of pollution bad enough to make them unusable in their current state but mild enough to make them promising risks for commercial development after cleanup. Chafee, Smith, Fields and other witnesses all agreed that the pollution problems of brownfields tend to be manageable enough that consensus could be reached on limiting developers' liability for cleanup costs. That rift is a principal reason for the failure to enact significant Superfund reform in two decades. Chafee acknowledged, however, that passage of brownfields legisla tion is far from assured and will take significant compromise on the part of the environmental community. For example, Chafee noted that Smith will insist on stronger powers for states to close the regulatory book on brownfields.
Environmentalists tend to want the federal government to have the final say.
Chafee indicated that he is open to discussion on that point.