Re: [CPEO-BIF] How frequently should the National BrownfieldsConference take place?

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Submitted by Karl Spivey <karlspivey@gmail.com>

My opinion is that the conference should be held every other year. 
Every year is too often.   Conditions in the brownfield arena are not
changing often enough to warrant an annual conference.

Does the conference meet my needs?  No.  I view the annual brownfield
conference as an opportunity lost.  In my opinion, this conference holds
the opportunity to bring activists, community representatives, property
owners, regulators, developers, insurers, lenders, consultants, and
members of the public together to move progress forward on brownfield
redevelopment.  My observation is that property owners -- those private
property owners who own underutilized, contaminated properties --
generally do not attend.  I can't blame them - there is little at the
conference to interest them.  The conference seems tightly focused on
the subset of brownfield redevelopment sites that are funded by EPA
grants.  As you know, those grant-driven sites are a small subset of the
universe of brownfield redevelopment opportunities.

Until a venue is created that engages private owners of brownfields (by
offering concrete help on access to capital, cleanup expertise,
development contacts, and regulatory incentives), the annual brownfield
conference will remain the superficial feel-good session that it has
been for several years.

I don't know about attendance figures, but I do not believe that is an
indication of "value."  I think it is more an indication of good choices
on location, advertising, and free admission.

Karl Spivey

 

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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