Mapping the void : brownfield inventories by local governments

Brownfields are abandoned or underused land whose redevelopment is complicated by the presence or perception of contamination. Nationally the United States Environmental Protection Agency estimates the number of brownfields to be more than half a million. As of 2002, the EPA requires states and tribal governments to inventory brownfields within their boundaries in order to receive federal funding for brownfield response programs; municipalities and regional planning offices eligible for competitive EPA brownfield grants are encouraged to first conduct a brownfield inventory. Assessment grants funding inventories are open-ended, allowing local governments to define their own methods of identifying brownfields and prioritizing parcels for redevelopment; as such there is little documentation of the way inventories are conducted. Through interviews with brownfield redevelopment professionals and inventory makers in Alabama, California, Kentucky, Massachusetts and New Jersey this thesis explores the ways local governments prioritize property types for identification, how they locate brownfields, how they incorporate community knowledge, and how inventories influence subsequent public funding allocations.