What Are The Key Barriers To Brownfields Redevelopment, And How Are They Being Addressed?
The issues of liability and cost are repeatedly cited in national surveys and studies as the biggest barriers to brownfields redevelopment. Until recently, there were little or no protections for innocent landowners or bona fide prospective purchasers i.e., parties who had no role in causing a hazardous release, but are left with owning a contamination problem. Even well-meaning parties can create huge liabilities for themselves by cleaning up contamination: ironically, they could be brought into legal actions relating to contamination that they did not originally produce. To address this issue, there are a number of recent changes in federal law that can help release innocent landowners from liability for past releases of contamination that they had no part of. The key issue is the buyers knowledge of conditions at the site: a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (described below) must be performed on the property in advance of closing, and the All Appropriate Inquiry process complet
