Brownfields Brownfields Programs States define brownfields in a variety of ways, but the term typically refers to urban industrial or commercial facilities that are abandoned or underutilized due, in part, to environmental contamination or fear of contamination. States have made special efforts in recent years to target brownfields for cleanup and reuse for several reasons, including the potential to revitalize distressed communities, increase tax dollars, and provide new jobs.
States take a wide range of approaches and use an assortment of tools.
Some States specifically address brownfields through their voluntary cleanup programs, others supplement their voluntary program activities, and still others have separate brownfields cleanup and redevelopment programs. It is important to note that the difference between voluntary and brownfields programs can be a question of semantics rather than substance. In theory, a brownfields program would focus on urban, rather than rural, sites and on industrial sites rather than spill or dump sites, and a voluntary cleanup program would be open to volunteers at any type of site in any location. In practice, however, State voluntary cleanup and brownfields programs do not necessarily make those distinctions. For this reason, it is important to look at both voluntary and brownfields programs to determine the brownfields redevelopment activities in any give State.