Changing Agendas in State Environmental Policy

Brownfield redevelopment has become an important theme in environmental policy as both federal and state governments rush to implement new programs to redevelop land parcels that are “abandoned, idled, or underused industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by a real or perceived environment contamination.” ¹ Collectively brownfield programs challenge several fundamental assumptions driving American toxic waste policy since the 1960s. First, there has been a major shift in authority to the states. A second important change has been the movement from a punitive regulatory framework to one stressing cooperation, self-interest and incentives. Perhaps the most interesting is a shift in the fundamental justification for toxic cleanups. While public health remains an important goal, economic development now plays a central role in the design and implementation of site cleanups. A number of states now factor in the probability that a site will actually be placed back into productive economic use, as well as the potential threat to public health, when making decisions about where to invest state cleanup funds.