Understanding Brownfields

• Brownfields are abandoned, vacant, derelict, or underutilized commercial and industrial properties.
• Past actions on brownfields have resulted in actual or perceived contamination.
• Brownfields have active potential for redevelopment.
• Brownfields are not the same as contaminated sites.
• Land requires Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) Certificate.
• There are approximately 30,000 brownfields in Canada and 500,000 in the US.
• Approximately 4000-6000 brownfields are in British Columbia.
• Brownfield Policy was created by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) from 2003-2013.
• NRTEE identifies, explores, and takes action on issues that have environmental and economic implications.
• The Federal Government of Canada tasked NRTEE with creating and promoting a national policy on Brownfields.
• A National Brownfield Redevelopment Strategy created in 2003 advises governments on how to reconcile often divergent challenges of economic prosperity and environmental conservation.

Benefits of Redevelopment

• Creates and retains employment opportunities through remediation activities and new enterprises post-remediation.
• Revitalizes neighborhoods and communities, which serves as a catalyst for community renewal.
• Increases property value.
• Increases property taxes.
• Properties within a 2.5 km radius increase an average of 10% in value.
• Saves tax expenditures because existing infrastructure already services the area, and only upgrades are needed, rather than brand new roads/utility connections.
• Reduces urban sprawl by providing a viable alternative, increasing close living opportunities for workers, and lessening pressure on ALR and other undeveloped land.
• One acre of redeveloped brownfield saves approximately 4.5 acres of greenfield (land not previously developed or polluted).
• Enhances the environment, health, and safety for residents through: improved urban environment and air quality, and less pollution/particulate matter.
• Increases city competitiveness.
• Improves business climate.
• Improves city image.
• Attracts new growth and foreign investment.

Challenges of Redevelopment

• Compromised access to capital because lenders are wary of holding brownfields as collateral; there is possible liability if foreclosed upon.
• Significant pre-project costs, such as environmental site assessments and unknown remediation costs.
• Regulatory and/or civil liability risk to anyone who touches it i.e. owners, developers, lenders, municipalities, provincial agencies, and ultimate purchasers or end users.
• Limited access to insurance protection.
• Inflexible, complex, and inconsistent procedural or regulatory requirements across various levels of government and disciplines.
• Developers may avoid brownfields.

Brownfield Categorization: 3 Tiers

• Top Tier: Market values greatly exceed remediation costs, driven by market redevelopment, evident rewards for developers, unlikely to be left idle for long, 15-20% of total sites.
• Middle Tier: High remediation costs and redevelopment potential, land value after remediation is likely to be close to the cost of purchase plus remediation, languishes due to uncertainty and foreseeable hurdles, 60-70% of total sites.
• Bottom Tier: Clean-up costs vastly exceed post-remediation land value, obvious expenditures and uncertainty quash market interest, no realistic prospects for the foreseeable future, 15-20% of sites.

Brownfields in BC

• FCM's Green Municipal Fund (GMF) has produced a series of roadmaps to help municipalities and their private-sector partners better understand how to redevelop brownfields in their communities.
• The Brownfield Site Redevelopment project funds capital projects for initiatives that bring a brownfield site back into economically productive use.
• Brownfield-specific funding is available if the initiative will be constructed on a remediated brownfield site and meets the requirements of a capital project listed in FCM's funding library under energy, transportation, waste or water.