The EPA’s Re-Powering America’s Land Initiative helps project stakeholders identify brownfield sites that may be suitable for renewable energy development.
In 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enacted the RE-Powering America’s Land Initiative to encourage renewable energy development on current and formerly contaminated lands, landfills, and mine sites, including brownfields.
This initiative not only investigates the potential of these sites and helps developers access resources, but also offers a mapping tool to help identify eligible brownfield sites. A skilled team of environmental consultants can assist developers in not only utilizing resources such as the RE-Powering Initiative but also in navigating a project’s assessment and mitigation requirements.
Background on Brownfields
Brownfield sites are property expansions, redevelopments, or similar project sites that may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant, such as petroleum. Often, they are abandoned or underused commercial or industrial properties in urban areas.
These impacted properties may be former Superfund sites, the informal name given to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) legislation that allows the EPA to clean up contaminated sites. Every brownfield contains the potential for contamination and may require remediation measures or engineering controls before the property can be reused for development purposes with minimal risk to human health and the environment.
Brownfields are often considered smart reinvestment strategies, as well as opportunities to maintain existing green space. Particularly in renewable energy projects, redeveloping a brownfield site advances cleaner, more cost-effective energy technologies, limits the environmental impacts of energy systems, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Because of these benefits, federal funding or grants may be available for brownfield remediation and redevelopment.
Utilizing the RE-Power Initiative for Redevelopment Projects
The Re-Power Initiative is an excellent resource for identifying sites and exploring any potential for federal funding. The initiative’s mapping tool was most recently updated in June 2022 and now features more than 190,000 sites – on more than 43 million acres – that have been preliminarily screened for renewable energy projects, including solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal projects.
The sites are pre-screened using data from the National Renewable Energy Lab. This resource is available for communities, developers, industry, state or local governments, or any party interested in reinvesting in a brownfield for renewable energy development.
Since the RE-Powering Initiative’s inception, hundreds of renewable energy installations on contaminated lands, landfills, and mine sites have been established. The EPA states the goals of the initiative as follows:
- Provide technical and programmatic assistance through enhanced tools and expedited projects.
- Promote policies and best practices that encourage renewable energy on contaminated land by highlighting programs and policies at all levels.
- Partner with stakeholders and leverage agency efforts by strengthening networks and facilitating collaboration.
Partnering with Knowledgeable Consultants
The partnership objective often includes bringing in a third-party environmental consultant, such as Cameron-Cole. With experience in various levels and types of contamination, their experts can assist in navigating the remediation journey, whether it entails removing the source of contamination; collecting soil, gas, and groundwater samples; in-situ treatments, or developing institutional controls if the contamination cannot be removed in a cost-effective manner.
While the potential project sites found using the RE-Power Initiative mapping tool have been pre-screened, it is important to note that the sites were not evaluated on the basis of land-use constraints or current conditions. Additional site-specific analyses and monitoring are crucial to ensuring both public safety and adherence to all regulations.
Adding a deep bench of property development and contamination support expertise to your team ensures all necessary assessments and remediation measures are identified and completed. Consultants may also discover various money-saving opportunities by analyzing how the project is structured, remediation efficiencies, or avenues for federal funding.
Cameron-Cole has long-standing, solid relationships with federal and state agencies, including the EPA, and can help navigate programs like the RE-Power Initiative. From the initial public comment and planning periods to assessment, remediation, and monitoring, Cameron-Cole’s brownfield experts can ensure all EPA and state regulations are followed and your development project moves forward as planned.
