ABSTRACT
Over the last three decades, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has expanded its focus from the goal of cleaning up contaminated lands, including hazardous mining sites, to incorporating reuse planning in the cleanup process. The EPA’s Land Revitalization Initiative was formed to promote revitalization goals across the Agency’s many cleanup programs and to remove or minimize barriers to site reuse. The EPA’s Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI), Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Team, and Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment (OBCR) have been successful in working with partners to revitalize former mining properties in ways that restore ecosystems, preserve history, and spur economic development. With these partners, the EPA is developing strategies to overcome mine reuse challenges and exploring innovative reuse approaches.
