Clean Air/Brownfields Partnership Pilot

The Clean Air/Brownfields Partnership Pilot will demonstrate the effectiveness of innovative strategies designed to enhance both air quality and economic vitality in Baltimore, MD; Chicago, IL; and Dallas, TX. The project consists of several components:

NEEDS ASSESSMENT

• Research and identify models which cities are currently using to encourage redevelopment while complying with the requirements of the Clean Air Act.
• Determine what Clean Air Act incentives and incentive structures would be most useful in encouraging redevelopment in the cities.
• Provide funds to the U.S. Conference of Mayors to work with the pilot areas to research and develop innovative tools to assist them in attaining compliance with the Clean Air Act while engaging in ambitious economic redevelopment programs.

TOOL DEVELOPMENT

• Quantify the air quality benefits of locating development on brownfield sites within the city as opposed to greenfield sites in the surrounding areas, and allowing areas to take credit for this under the Clean Air Act.
• Evaluate the possible impacts of new source review (NSR) requirements on brownfields redevelopment; analyze potential solutions to these concerns such as educational materials and emissions offset pools; explore ways to improve applications so that permit reviews run more smoothly.
• Research the potential of giving credit for system-wide emission reductions when clean utilities locate in the city.

APPLICATION

• Cooperate with the pilot cities to develop an air attainment plan that satisfies EPA's Clean Air Act requirements while meeting the restoration and reuse needs of the city, with a sensitivity to environmental justice concerns. The city-specific plans will be collections of tools that can be selectively used by other cities in redeveloping their brownfields sites within the requirements of the Clean Air Act.
• Develop protocols to transmit tools to other cities.

This pilot project is the result of concerns raised by the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) on how the Clean Air Act and the Brownfields Initiative work together. The federal partners: EPA's Office of Air and Radiation; Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response; Office of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation; Regional Offices; and the Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration, worked closely with the USCM and the selected cities to develop the concept for this project. Additional partners are joining the project, including ICMA, NALGEP, and the involved States. A focus group will be established through the U.S. Conference of Mayors to monitor the progress of the pilots, provide information and feedback where appropriate, serve as a check to ensure that the results will be transferrable to other cities, and generate awareness of the project across the nation.