BROWNFIELDS REPORT

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

From: Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>

BROWNFIELD REPORT AVAILABLE
"Environmental Justice, Urban Revitalization, and Brownfields: The 
Search for Authentic Signs of Hope," is now available. This 76-page 
report, which has been circulating in draft form for some time, is an 
outgrowth of a series of public dialogues held in 1995 by the National 
Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), U.S. EPA, and other 
sponsors. It was written by the NEJAC Waste and Facility Siting 
Subcommittee, headed by Charles Lee of the United Church of Christ 
Commission on Racial Justice. "Brownfields" are abandoned commercial or 
industrial properties impacted either by contamination or the 
possibility of contamination.
The public dialogues and the report have already had a major impact on 
EPA's Brownfields initiative, shifting it from an initial 
developer-driven model to an approach that increasingly relies upon the 
interests and desires of the residents of Brownfields communities. The 
subcommittee makes recommendations in three general areas: public 
participation and community vision; public and private sector 
partnerships; and "key issue areas." Those issue areas include equal 
protection; public health, environmental standards, and liability; job 
creation, training, and career development; and land use. In preparing 
the consensus report, the subcommittee drew not only upon the public 
input offered during the dialogues but the widespread experience of 
base closure communities. Base closures are in many ways similar too, 
or even a subset, or brownfields.
To order a free copy of the report (EPA 500-R-96-002), call 
202/260-4039 or send E-mail to benjamin.kent@epamail.epa.gov.
Lenny Siegel