Environmental insurance (EI) can facilitate the redevelopment of potentially contaminated sites in distressed urban areas by providing a means to manage the environmental and financial risks at these properties. We draw on a survey and interviews of private brownfield developers to provide information on current EI utilization, factors that affect this, and ways in which public officials can facilitate its use when appropriate. We find that EI appears particularly relevant at sites where high-risk financing capital is used, off-site contaminant migration is likely, institutional controls are prevalent, or when developers lack adequate risk spreading across their project portfolios. Local governments and nonprofit organizations can promote EI use at both private and public properties through information dissemination, direct use of insurance-based risk transfer tools, and financial subsidies to developers for EI use.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alker, S., Joy, V., Roberts, P., & Smith, N. (2000). The definition of brownfield. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 43(1), 49-69.
2.
Anderson, P. L., & Clemens, I. (1999). A report on the demographics of Michigan's urban brownfield communities. Lansing, MI: Anderson Economic Group.
3.
Anderson, R. F., & Greenberg, M. R. (1982). Hazardous waste facility siting: A role for planners. Journal of the American Planning Association, 48(2), 204-218.
4.
Attoh-Okine, N. O., & Gibbons, J. (2001). Use of belief function in brownfield infrastructure redevelopment decision making. Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 127(3), 126-143.
5.
Bartsch, C. (2003). Community involvement in brownfield redevelopment. Washington, DC: Northeast-Midwest Institute.
6.
Bartsch, C. (n.d.). Financing brownfield cleanup and redevelopment. Washington, DC: Northeast-Midwest Institute.
7.
Bartsch, C., Collaton, E., & Pepper, E. (1996). Coming clean for economic development: A resource book on environmental cleanup and economic development opportunities. Washington, DC: Northeast-Midwest Institute.
8.
Bartsch, C., & Deane, R. (2002). Brownfields “State of the States”: An end-of-session review of initiatives and program impacts in the 50 states. Washington, DC: Northeast-Midwest Institute.
9.
Bartsch, C., & Dorfman, B. (2000). Guide to federal brownfield programs. Washington, DC: Northeast-Midwest Institute.
10.
Borak, D., & Meek, C. (1999). Putting the pieces together: Local government coordination of brownfield redevelopment. Washington, DC: International City/County Management Association.
11.
Boyd, J., Harrington, W., & Macauley, M. (1996). The effects of environmental liability on industrial real estate development. Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 12(1), 37-58.
12.
Clean Sites. (1992). Main Street meets Superfund: Local government involvement at Superfund hazardous waste sites. Alexandria, VA: Author.
13.
Council for Urban Economic Development. (1999). Brownfields redevelopment: Performance evaluation. Washington, DC: Council for Urban Economic Development.
14.
Davis, T. S. (2002). Brownfields: A comprehensive guide to redeveloping contaminated property (2nd ed.). Chicago: American Bar Association.
15.
DeSousa, C. (2003). Turning brownfields into green space in the city of Toronto. Landscape and Urban Planning, 62(4), 181-198.
16.
Dorsey, J. (2003). Brownfields and greenfields: The intersection of sustainable development and environmental stewardship. Environmental Practice, 5(1), 69-76.
17.
ECS and Council for Urban Economic Development. (2000). THE ECS land reuse report. Exton, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC: Author.
18.
Engel, K. H. (1997-1998). Brownfield initiatives and environmental justice: Second class cleanups or market based equity? Journal of Natural Resources & Environmental Law, 13(2), 317-337.
19.
English, M., & Peretz, J. (1998). Brownfields reuse in Tennessee. Public Works Management & Policy, 2(3), 251-257.
20.
English, M. R., Gibson, A. K., Feldman, D. L., & Tonn, B. E. (1993). Stakeholder involvement: Open process for reaching decisions about the future uses of contaminated sites. Knoxville: University of Tennessee, Waste Management Research and Education Institute.
21.
Environmental Law Institute. (1999). A guidebook for brownfield property owners. Washington, DC: Environmental Law Institute.
22.
Environmental Law Institute. (2002). An analysis of state Superfund programs: 50-state study, 2001 update. Washington, DC: Environmental Law Institute.
23.
Finegold, A. (1998). Revitalizing America's brownfields: Economic growth through environmental protection. Washington, DC: National Governors' Association Center for Best Practice.
24.
Glaser, M. (1994). Economic and environmental repair in the shadow of Superfund: Local government leadership in building strategic partnerships. Economic Development Quarterly, 8(4), 345-352.
25.
Green, K. (1996). Recycling contaminated land: A community resource guide. Chicago: Center for Neighborhood Technology.
26.
Greenberg, M., Lee, C., & Powers, C. (1998). Public health and brownfields: Reviving the past to protect the future. American Journal of Public Health, 88(12), 1759-1760.
27.
Greenberg, M., Lowrie, K., Solitare, L., & Duncan, L. (2000). Brownfields, toads, and the struggle for neighborhood redevelopment: A case study of the state of New Jersey. Urban Affairs Review, 35(5), 717-733.
28.
Hanley, C. M. (1995). Developing brownfields: An overview. Journal of Urban Technology, 2(2), 1-8.
29.
Howland, M. (2000). The impact of contamination on the Canton/Southeast Baltimore land market. Journal of the American Planning Association, 66(4), 411-420.
30.
International City/County Management Association. (1998). Why smart growth: A primer. Washington, DC: Author.
31.
International City/County Management Association. (2001). Brownfields redevelopment: A guidebook for local governments and communities (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: International City/County Management Association.
32.
Kaiser, S. (1997). Commentary: Brownfields national partnership. Public Works Management & Policy, 2(3), 196-201.
33.
Leigh, N. G. (1994). Focus: Environmental constraints to brownfield redevelopment (Introduction). Economic Development Quarterly, 8(4), 325-328.
34.
Leigh, N. G. (2000). Promoting more equitable brownfield redevelopment: Promising approaches for land banks and other community land development entities (WP00NL2). Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
35.
Leigh, N. G., & Coffin, S. L. (2000). How many brownfields are there? Building an industrial legacy database. Journal of Urban Technology, 7(3), 1-18.
36.
Meyer, P. B., & Lyons, T. S. (2000). Lessons from private sector brownfield redevelopers: Planning public support for urban regeneration. Journal of the American Planning Association, 66(1), 46-57.
37.
Meyer, P. B., & VanLandingham, H. W. (2000). Reclamation and economic regeneration of brownfields. (Reviews of Economic Development Literature and Practice No. 1). Washington, DC: U.S. Economic Development Administration.
38.
Miller, T., Greenberg, M., Lowrie, K., Mayer, H., Lambiase, A., Novis, R., et al. (2000). Brownfields redevelopment as a tool for smart growth: Analysis of nine New Jersey municipalities (Report 12 for the Office of State Planning). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University, National Center for Neighborhood and Brownfields Redevelopment.
National Association of Development Organizations Research Foundation. (1999). Reclaiming rural America's brownfields. Washington, DC: Author.
41.
National Governors Association. (2000). New mission for brownfields: Attacking sprawl by revitalizing older communities. Washington, DC: Author.
42.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (1996). Innovative policies for sustainable urban development. Paris: Author.
43.
Page, G. W. (1986). Municipal characteristics associated with toxic contamination in groundwater. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 5(2), 86-93.
44.
Page, G. W., & Rabinowitz, H. (1993). Groundwater contamination: Its effects on property values and cities. Journal of the American Planning Association, 59(4), 473-481.
45.
Pendergrass, J. (1999). Sustainable redevelopment of brownfields: Using institutional controls to protect public health. ELR News and Analysis, 29(5), 10243-10258.
46.
Pepper, E. (1997). Lessons from the field. Washington, DC: Northeast-Midwest Institute.
47.
Rowan, G., & Fridgen, C. (2003). Brownfields and environmental justice: The threats and challenges of contamination. Environmental Practice, 5(1), 58-61.
48.
Schoenbaum, M. (2002). Environmental contamination, brownfields policy, and economic redevelopment in an industrial area of Baltimore, Maryland. Land Economics, 78(1), 60-71.
49.
Simons, R. A. (1998a). How many urban brownfields are out there? An economic base contraction analysis of 31 U.S. cities. Public Works Management & Policy, 2(3), 267-273.
50.
Simons, R. A. (1998b). Turning brownfields into greenbacks. Washington, DC: Urban Land Institute.
51.
U.S. Conference of Mayors. (2000). Recycling America's land: A national report on brownfields redevelopment (Vol. 3). Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. General Accounting Office. (1987). Superfund: Extent of nation's potential hazardous waste problem still unknown (GAO/RCED-88-44). Washington, DC: General Accounting Office.
54.
Walker, C., Boxall, P., Bartsch, C., Collaton, E., Meyer, P., & Yount, K. (1998). The impact of environmental hazards and regulations on urban redevelopment (Project Final Report submitted by The Urban Institute). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research.
55.
Walzer, N., Duncan, S., & Sutton, L. (2001). Brownfields in Illinois municipalities. Macomb, IL: Western Illinois University, Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs.
56.
Wernstedt, K. (2001). Devolving Superfund to Main Street: Avenues for local community involvement. Journal of the American Planning Association, 67(3), 293-313.
57.
Wernstedt, K., & Hersh, R. (1998). Urban land use and Superfund cleanups. Journal of Urban Affairs, 20(4), 459-474.
58.
Yount, K. (2003). What are brownfields? Finding a conceptual definition. Environmental Practice, 5(1), 25-33.
59.
Yount, K. R., & Meyer, P. B. (2002). Models of government-led brownfield insurance programs. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
