Brownfields Federal Partnership Action Agenda
November 2002

The Brownfields Federal Partnership Action Agenda

On January 11, 2002 President Bush signed the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act into law (Public Law 107-118). The President and the U.S. Congress recognized in this new law the importance of federal partnerships in achieving the mutual goals of environmental protection and economic revitalization. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its partnering agencies under the Bush Administration confirm their commitment to work together by developing the Brownfields Federal Partnership Action Agenda. The Brownfields Federal Partnership Action Agenda represents the focused efforts of over twenty federal agencies, making over one hundred commitments to work together in a timely manner to help communities more effectively prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. Highlights of these commitments include:

• EPA's commitment to provide potentially $850 million over the next five years to states, tribes, counties, municipalities, and non-profit organizations through brownfields assessment, cleanup, revolving loan fund, job training, and state/tribal grants;
• Commitments by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Justice, and U.S. Department of Labor to offer funding priority to brownfields communities through their respective grant mechanisms;
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's commitment to lead an interagency "Portfields" project that will focus on the redevelopment and reuse of brownfields in and around ports, harbors, and marine transportation hubs; and
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' commitment to announce eight new pilots under its "Urban Rivers Initiative" to address restoration in and around urban rivers.

Communities with brownfields often face economic and social concerns, such as unemployment, substandard housing, outdated or faulty public infrastructure, crime, and a poorly skilled local workforce. Although federal and state programs may be in place to address these issues, too often the programs operate in isolation. The collaboration of diverse expertise and experience of each agency in the Brownfields Federal Partnership Action Agenda will help make all relevant federal programs work more productively for the people and communities affected by the presence of brownfields.

BACKGROUND

EPA's Brownfields Program is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields.

EPA established an Interagency Working Group on Brownfields in July 1996 that included more than twenty federal departments and agencies. The Working Group began drafting a national plan that would guide future work on brownfields. The result of this effort was the first Brownfields Action Agenda that was announced in 1997.

Solid Waste
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Response (5105 T)