The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines a brownfield as “real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.”
Dakota County received U.S. EPA Brownfields assessment grants in 2010 to investigate the potential presence of hazardous substances and petroleum on brownfield sites. Facilitating redevelopment on those sites eliminates upfront costs for local governments or developers.
Hazardous substances and/or petroleum have been used or stored at many commercial and nearly all industrial properties. Therefore, many properties can meet the U.S. EPA definition for a brownfield when they are being targeted for redevelopment. Similarly, nearly all buildings constructed prior to 1980 may have asbestos containing building materials, lead based paint, and/or other hazardous building materials, which can require inspection and sampling for these materials as part of any redevelopment.
Dakota County is asking cities to identify potential sites that meet the following criteria:
- The City is interested in acquiring a property for future City use or redevelopment but is short of funding to perform the necessary environmental due diligence activities.
- The City acquired a property that was partially investigated but would benefit from additional testing that would complete definition of the nature and extent of contamination, enable environmental cleanup cost to be estimated, and remove uncertainty that may be hampering development.
- There is a site that is of current or recent interest to a developer, for which the availability of funding for environmental assessment costs would enhance the likelihood of the developer moving forward with potential redevelopment.
- Abandoned sites that are a significant blighting influence and/or a potential threat to public welfare and/or the environment.