The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency), through its Office of Enforcement Compliance and Assurance (OECA), has launched an exciting new initiative to address the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated sites today while reducing the environmental impacts of development for tomorrow. The initiative — Environmentally Responsible Redevelopment and Reuse or ER3 — complements Agency programs such as the Brownfields program, the Superfund Redevelopment Initiative, the One Cleanup Program and other efforts being conducted by the National Center for Land Revitalization, as well as other offices and EPA regions.1 All of these programs go beyond the traditional cleanup approaches of the EPA and recognize the potential for reuse of contaminated property. ER3 builds on these programs by emphasizing and encouraging sustainable redevelopment or reuse of such property where possible.

Background
The primary mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment. Historically, the Agency used a “command and control” approach to eliminate or reduce the amount, concentration, and type of pollutants coming from the “end of the pipe.” This approach achieved significant environmental gains and will continue to play an indispensable role in protecting our environment. Beginning with the FY 1997 Strategic Plan, the Agency realized the need to work in a more comprehensive cross-programmatic way to achieve even greater environmental goals. To address these cross-programmatic issues while fulfilling its primary mission, the Agency has sought innovative proactive solutions. For EPA’s cleanup programs, these innovations have focused on returning contaminated sites to productive reuse following cleanup.

While the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties produces significant environmental results, and in most cases is preferable to a property remaining underutilized or idle, current building practices can have significant environmental impacts. The purpose of the ER3 initiative is to further identify and support innovative efforts and processes to produce additional environmentally sustainable benefits in the redevelopment of contaminated properties.

Environmentally Responsible Redevelopment and Reuse means the integration of the best sustainable environmental practices in the redevelopment and reuse of previously contaminated property. These principles and practices include high performance green building design, construction, and operation; incorporation of smart growth principles; advanced storm water and waste water management; and ecological enhancement and habitat preservation.

How ER3 Works
The primary components of the ER3 initiative are: 1) Identifying and providing incentives from both EPA and its ER3 partners; 2) Developing partnerships for a “network of knowledge;” and 3) Education and outreach.

Incentives
For almost a decade, OECA has developed a number of tools, which have been used to overcome liability barriers to the redevelopment of contaminated sites. These same tools can now be applied to encourage the sustainable redevelopment of a site. EPA has found that more certainty concerning the status of a site provided by written documents is sometimes all that is needed for developers of contaminated lands to do more than just clean them up. Accordingly, to help provide this incentive of certainty, EPA will consider using Prospective Purchaser Agreements and Comfort/Status letters, as well as other tools, in situations where these tools may not normally be needed for cleanup and redevelopment, but would provide the incentive for cleanup and sustainable redevelopment.

Similarly, OECA is considering innovative uses, flexibility, and streamlined procedures in parceling of RCRA facilities, compliance assistance, and favorable publicity for the sustainable development of contaminated sites.

Significantly, the ER3 initiative has resulted in the development of a new type of Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) to serve as an ER3 incentive. A green building SEP would involve a defendant/respondent agreeing to support the use of environmentally beneficial “green building” technologies at the redevelopment of a nearby contaminated property in exchange for penalty mitigation credit. The penalties may arise under a variety of statutory authorities, and the SEP will generally take place on property not owned by the entity paying the penalty. A green building SEP would preferably be part of or take the form of a larger-scale integrated green design and procurement for a nearby cleanup and redevelopment project. For more information on the green building SEP concept, please refer to the fact sheet entitled “Supplemental Environmental Projects: Green Building on Contaminated Properties” (July 2004). http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/policies/cleanup/brownfields/sep-redev-fs.pdf

Additionally, a fundamental goal of ER3 is to partner with other federal agencies (DOE, HUD, Army Corps of Engineers, etc.), as well as state agencies that are involved in the sustainable redevelopment of property.  Particularly at the state level, tax and other economic incentives may be available to encourage the use of sustainable redevelopment and reuse of sites. Further, states may also be able to grant additional environmental incentives such as liability protection under state law. Potentially, these incentives may be devised so that sustainable development becomes a priority with developers of contaminated sites. By combining forces, new additional incentives may be developed and applied toward a sustainable future.

Partnerships
Fundamental to, and intertwined with the idea of providing incentives, is “partnering” with others. Collaborative partnerships with both the public and private sectors bring new problem solving potential to sustainable development challenges and issues. While the available expertise on sustainable concepts within the EPA is significant, it cannot possibly capture the full range of sustainability. Thus, ER3 seeks to create a partnership network which can, in turn, create a “network of knowledge” on sustainability and available incentives that may be applied to a redevelopment site. As noted above, additional sustainability expertise as well as potential incentives can be developed through partnerships with other federal and state agencies. By adopting sustainable concepts from the broader ecosystem level down through the single building level, ER3 hopes to truly foster a holistic systemic approach to sustainability.

OECA recognizes that many partnerships and working relationships already exist within the Agency and mechanisms such as Memoranda of Agreement/Understanding memorialize these relationships. OECA hopes to capitalize on and more fully utilize these established partnerships through ER3. For example, the Agency has entered into agreements with the U.S. Green Building Council, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the Wildlife Habitat Council, all of which have staff with expertise in aspects of sustainability which may be useful in the ER3 partnership context.

Of course, there are a myriad of other potential partners at the local, state, and national levels. To help identify and develop these partners, OECA through its Office of Site Remediation Enforcement (OSRE) issued a call for partners through the April 22, 2005 publication of the Federal Register.2 Although the deadline has passed, the Agency would still consider entering into partnership agreements with appropriate entities with sustainable expertise.

How the Partnership Network Works
When the cleanup and development of a contaminated site comes to the attention of the ER3 network, information will be obtained about the site to determine if there are any incentives available to help redevelop or reuse the site in an environmentally responsible manner. Additionally, the ER3 team will contact its partners to gather information on sustainability concepts which may apply to the site. This information could vary from watershed impacts to smart growth principles to “green building” suggestions to ecological enhancements and other sustainable features. Information that applies to the site will then be submitted to the developer and to the local community affected by the cleanup and redevelopment.  The developer is then encouraged, through the use of any appropriate incentives from the partnership network, to adopt and implement the sustainable practices identified. If a link is made between the developer and the ER3 partner, then they can enter into a private contractual arrangement outside the scope of ER3.

Education and Outreach
The third major component of ER3 is education and outreach. As the Agency has gained experience in the redevelopment and reuse of contaminated sites, it has learned that developers of those sites and the appropriate regulating agency often are not aware of the benefits of sustainable development or are of the belief that incorporating sustainable concepts into reuse and redevelopment is an onerous and expensive task. Education and outreach to developers, regulators, and communities is essential to realize the benefits – economic, environmental, and social – derived from sustainable development. Numerous opportunities lend themselves for education and training on sustainable concepts. For example, national conferences sponsored by the EPA such as the annual Brownfields Conference or by the private sector (e.g., real estate transaction conferences) offer a variety of settings to present sustainable concepts.

Education and outreach may also benefit those in the sustainability field. New ideas, best practices, and case studies will only help the practitioners further the sustainability cause, which in turn, helps the more diffuse education and outreach effort to the general public. Through the partnership network, ER3 can provide sustainability experts with an exciting opportunity to share new ideas, best practices, and case studies with the diverse sustainable development community and the broader public.

A Model to Follow
Although it predates ER3, the redevelopment and transformation of the old Atlantic Steel site into the new and vibrant mixed-use Atlantic Station embodies the ER3 principles of providing incentives, collaborative partnering, and ultimately, education and outreach to the Atlanta community.

The beginning of the 20th century saw the birth of Atlantic Steel (then known as the Atlanta Steel Hoops Company) near Atlanta’s central business district. The following decades saw growth and prosperity for Atlantic Steel, which was the largest employer in Atlanta during World War II. However, the ensuing decades saw a decline in steel production at mills around the country and Atlantic Steel was no exception. After years of struggling, the plant was finally shuttered in 1998. Yet, the beginning of the 21st Century saw the “rebirth” of the site in the form of the sustainably designed Atlantic Station, a thriving mixed-use community of homes, offices, restaurants, theaters, night clubs, stores, and parks.

The task of redevelopment was daunting as a variety of hazardous waste, air, and storm water runoff environmental concerns needed to be addressed, as well as local zoning and transportation issues.

The key governmental players pulled together and provided the appropriate incentives to “make the deal happen.” The EPA’s Project XL (Excellence in Leadership) helped to provide regulatory flexibility under the Clean Air Act which subsequently resulted in new funding opportunities for the project. Additionally, EPA, in cooperation with several federal, state, and local agencies, completed the Environmental Assessment for NEPA.

In conjunction with the federal effort, the state of Georgia streamlined the cleanup requirements and provided a “no further action” letter at the termination of the RCRA cleanup. The Georgia Pollution Prevention Division and the Department of Transportation helped minimize the environmental impact of the development of the 17th Street Bridge by incorporating traffic lanes, bike lanes, and pedestrian walkways into the structure. The bridge will help reduce Atlanta’s Vehicle Miles Traveled by 34% and NOx emissions by 45%. The development was the city of Atlanta’s first Tax Allocation District and $76.5 million in bonds were sold in the fall of 2001 to help finance the district, including an upgrade of the sanitary and storm water sewer system. Significantly, coordinated work by “private” partners – specifically, MACTEC, Southern Company Energy Solutions, Southface Energy Institution, and Georgia Tech – resulted in sustainably designed buildings and air conditioning systems, helping turn this brownfield green.

The redevelopment of Atlantic Steel into Atlantic Station involved multiple parties with multiple interests. However, the overriding concept of returning this once contaminated and blighted area back to sustainable and productive reuse helped forge a spirit of cooperation among the parties and allowed them to overcome various obstacles. The success of this project is the touchstone for future projects under ER3.

Conclusion
Environmentally Responsible Redevelopment and Reuse of contaminated property is part of a new wave of environmental protection - proactively protecting the environment before there is a problem rather than reacting to contamination which has already occurred. ER3 involves the cleanup and protection of contaminated land now while preserving and protecting the environment for future generations. It goes beyond the “command and control” of the end of the pipeline and it goes beyond revitalization “after the fact.” Rather, it incorporates sustainability into the cleanup and redevelopment process from the beginning. Over the years, EPA has found that the sustainable principles of economic productivity, environmental protection, and social equitable enhancement provide a strong foundation for success. The component parts of ER3 – identification and delivery of incentives, a network of partners and expertise, and training and outreach – will help ensure the foundation of sustainable development within EPA remains strong and progressive. SLDT

The views expressed here are solely those of Mr. Page and do not necessarily represent official EPA policy or legal positions.

1 More information about each of these programs can be found on EPA’s website www.epa.gov . Specifically, ER3 is found at www.epa.gov/compliance/redevelop/er3/index .
The Brownfields program is found at www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/index ; Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) at www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/recycle/index ; the One Cleanup Program at www.epa.gov/oswer/ onecleanupprogram/index ; and Land Revitalization at www.epa.gov/LANDREVITALIZATION/index .

2 Found at http:// www.epa.gov/EPA-GENERAL/2005/April/Day-22/g8126.htm.