Development of a Brownfields Inventory provides a listing of Brownfield sites within the community. The Inventory identifies sites, can be used to document progress in cleaning and redeveloping these sites, serves as a vehicle for prioritizing redevelopment, and can be used as a marketing tool to attract redevelopment. A Brownfields Inventory can also be an important tool for Environmental Commissions, Planning and Zoning Boards to take into account the potential for contamination when reviewing reuses for these or adjacent sites. Brownfield inventories are dynamic documents that should be revised as additional data become available, when properties are cleaned and redeveloped, or when properties are abandoned. A municipality will earn 20 points toward Sustainable Jersey certification for a Brownfield Inventory completed in the last six years or for an older Inventory that has been reviewed and updated in the last six years.
Who should lead and be involved with this action?
A Brownfields Inventory can be initiated and conducted by volunteers, municipal staff, and/or outside consultants. It may be helpful during later stages of data collection to involve the tax assessor, Brownfield property owner and their consultants, known as Licensed Site Remediation Professionals (LSRPs), hired to address issues at the sites.
Timeframe
The timeframe to complete or update a Brownfields Inventory varies, depending on support from the local government and funding available. The length of time required to complete an Inventory will depend on the number of sites present in a municipality and the amount of site information available. Completing a Brownfields Inventory using municipal staff and/or volunteers may take longer than hiring a consultant. However, downloading the initial inventory from the NJDEP Database will only take a few minutes, and it is likely that the entire process of fact checking, mapping, and prioritizing a Brownfields Inventory can be accomplished within a 3 month period.
Once the municipality completes a Brownfields Inventory, it should institutionalize a process for updating it. This can be done by having staff in the Tax office or in the Planning Department update the inventory when property changes hands or has changes in reuse approved. However, the inventory should be examined as a whole a minimum of every six years to ensure that all known Brownfield sites are listed. The Environmental Commission, municipal staff, volunteers, or consultants can update the Brownfields Inventory. Completing updates in house may take longer than hiring a consultant, depending on the amount of time staff or volunteers can dedicate. While the timing may vary, it is likely that an existing Brownfields Inventory can be updated in a relatively short period of time.
Project Costs and Resource Needs
The resources needed to compile and maintain a Brownfields Inventory will vary, depending on how the Green Team decides to complete the action. The Brownfields Inventory can be managed in house or by hiring a consultant. Municipal structure and existing staff capacity will impact the types of additional resources needed to develop a Brownfields Inventory. If a consultant produces the inventory, municipal governing body approval will be required to approve this expense. For example, mapping is a recommended element of the inventory and geographic information systems (GIS) skills and software will be needed. The cost will depend on what elements are outsourced and what is done in house, the number of Brownfields in the community, and the extent of information collection. A complete Brownfields Inventory can cost as little as $1,000 or as much as $15,000, if developed by a consultant; or less if some portions are done in-house. Minimal staff time will also be required for regularly updating the Brownfields Inventory.
Information for Brownfields Inventories can be collected from a myriad of sources, including but not limited to: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), New Jersey Office for Planning Advocacy, Historic City Directories, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, historic phone directories, tax maps, tax assessor database, and site visits. See the "Resources" section for an extensive listing.
Why is it Important?
A Brownfields Inventory is an important land use tool. It can be used as a marketing tool to attract redevelopment, as a prioritization tool to direct public resources, and as a planning tool to inform reuse decision making. It provides a catalogue of sites toward which redevelopment efforts can be directed, which could steer development away from greenfields. In addition, it can highlight potential human health and environmental threats that may require attention prior to site reuse. A Brownfields Inventory should be used:
- As a basis for municipal land use planning;
- As an indicator of areas suitable for specific types of development;
- As a resource during review of planning or zoning request;
- As a marketing tool to bring redevelopment to a community;
- As a way to prioritize efforts to create shovel-ready sites to promote development;
- As a tool for making decisions about the placement of infrastructure, roads, sewers, schools, etc.;
- As a resource in the preparation of a Brownfield element for the municipal Master Plan;
- As an educational tool for residents to learn more about their community and its environment.
What to do, and how to do it ("How to")
STEP 1: Create Priority Inventory (required)
The requirements for earning points for this action are listed below. The preliminary Brownfields Inventory can be generated by downloading information directly from the NJDEP Dataminer site. NJDEP has developed a report that will allow municipalities to easily download information relevant to populating a Brownfields Inventory.
NJDEP has developed a report to enable municipalities to easily download key information as a starting point for the Brownfields Inventory. The report can be accessed by: [awaiting release from NJDEP]. After opening the Report, the data can be copied for pasting into an excel spreadsheet that can be manipulated to develop the starting inventory for your municipality. The fields in this report are as follows:
| Field Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Site ID | This is the number associated with the site in the DEP Masterfile database. The Site ID can be used to find additional information regarding the site. |
| Current Site Name | This is the most recent (hopefully) site name. This name is associated with the Site ID. |
| Line1 Address | This is the street address of the site, according to the DEP Masterfile database. |
| Municipality | This is the municipality in which the site is located, according to the DEP Masterfile database. |
| County | This is the county in which the site is located, according to the DEP Masterfile database. |
| Site X Coordinate | This is the NJ state plane X coordinate, which is usually at the "front door" of the site. |
| Site Y Coordinate | This is the NJ state plane Y coordinate, which is usually at the "front door" of the site. |
| PI Number | This is the Program Interest Number. Many DEP programs (i.e. the Site Remediation Program) can have an interest in the same site. Each program has its own unique identifier (PI#) for the part of the site they are interested in. It is also known as the Preferred ID. |
| PI Name This is the name associated with the PI#. | There can be many PI Names for one site (i.e. one from each program). The names are often similar but can be very different, especially if the company was sold and /or changed names. |
| PI X Coordinate Number | This is the NJ state plane X coordinate. This coordinate is where the remediation is taking place. |
| PI Y Coordinate Number | This is the NJ state plane Y coordinate. This coordinate is where the remediation is taking place. |
| All Blocks Lots | are the blocks and lots associated with the site according to the DEP Masterfile database. |
| Overall Site Status | Sometimes Site Remediation Program (SRP) has more than one interest at a site. When this occurs, an "Overall Site Status (SRP Site Attr)" is calculated. This field indicates the most recent status for the whole site. Examples are: Assigned to Program, LSRP Oversight, No Further Action (NFA), or Completed. NFA or Completed mean the environmental remediation at the site has been addressed, and identifies whether there are restrictions and whether the entire site was remediated or only an Area of Concern. |
| Overall Status Date | This is the date of the most recent overall site status. |
| CEA (Classification Exemption Area) | This field indicates if a Classification Exemption Area is in place for the site, which would indicate that groundwater contamination is present. |
| CEA Status Date | This provides the date a CEA went into effect. |
| Deed Notice | This field indicates if a deed notice is present on the site, indicating whether contamination is present in the soils. |
| Deed Notice Date | This provides the date a deed notice went into effect. |
| Eng. Controls | This indicates if engineering controls exist on the site to prevent exposure to contaminants. |
| Eng. Controls Status Date | This provides the date an engineering control(s) went into effect. |
| Home Owner | This field identifies home owners. If the site is a homeowner heating oil tank case, this field will have a "Y" for yes. For most Brownfields inventory purposes, these sites should be deleted from the priority listing. |
| Licensee Name | This is the name of the Licensed Site Remedial Professional (LSRP) |
| License Number | This is the license number of the LSRP. |
| License Type | This is the type of license recorded (i.e. an LSRP license) |
| Status | This is the status of the LSRP's license. |
| Employment Start Date | This is the date the LSRP was hired. |
| Employment End Date | This is the date the LSRP was dismissed /released. |
| Responsible Entity | Is there a Responsible Entity (RE) at the site (Yes or No) |
| Number of Active REs | If yes, how many Responsible Entities are there? |
| All Responsible Entities | This is a list of all known Res for the site |
In addition to downloading this basic information from the NJDEP website, there is other information that is useful which is not available in the DEP database; there may also be missing data or errors in the NJDEP download. Thus, it is important to review the data carefully and 'ground-truth' and/or verify the information using other data sources.
The municipality must have a policy for regularly updating the Brownfields Inventory that includes who is responsible and how often these updates are required. A schedule should be developed for how frequently the inventory should be updated, and people should be assigned to update portions of the inventory as changes occur on priority sites. Maintaining this inventory with current data is essential for it to remain a useful resource for the municipality. Decide whether the whole Brownfields Inventory will be updated at regular intervals or whether fields will be updated individually as new data becomes available. Decide how updates will be funded. Municipalities should, at the minimum, review the available DEP data every 6 years following the creation of a Brownfields inventory.
STEP 2: Set Priorities (Required)
Once the base inventory is completed (with or without a map - see optional Step 3) the next task is setting priorities, which can be based on a number of factors (chosen by the community in a public process). Examples of some prioritization categories might be:
- Ownership
- Size
- Redevelopment Potential
- Human Health Risk
- Ecological Health Risk
- Potential for open space
- Within a redevelopment area
- Potential for reducing blight
Each community should develop the ranking system that works for them. After the community agrees on the prioritization factors, all are given a weighting that reflects the factor's importance to the community. Each site should then be ranked depending based on these factors. A suggested approach is to rank each site with a score of 1–5; 1 being the least important, 5 the most important, and 3 representing a neutral score where the information is not available for that site. This ranking must be conducted for each selected criteria. The highest scoring sites represent the community's Brownfield priorities. An example of such a ranking system is provided below.
| Ownership 5=public, 1=private |
Public Health risk 5=high risk; 1=low risk |
Redevelopment potential | Potential to reduce blight | Overall Ranking Score |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weighting Factor | X2 | X5 | X3 | X2 | |
| Site 1 | 5*2=10 | 1*5=5 | 5*3=15 | 2*2=4 | 34 |
| Site 2 | 5*2=10 | 3*5=15 | 4*3=12 | 5*2=10 | 48 |
| Site 3 | 3*2=6 | 1*5=5 | 3*3=9 | 3*2=6 | 26 |
| Site 4 | 1*2=2 | 5*5=25 | 1*3=3 | 4*2=8 | 38 |
| Site 5 | 5*2=10 | 5*5=25 | 1*3=3 | 2*2=4 | 42 |
In this example, Site 2 would be ranked as the highest priority followed by Site 5.
This priority ranking could be done for all Brownfield Inventory sites or just a subset of sites already identified as a priority area. Perhaps there is strong interest in redeveloping the downtown or a commercial corridor. Perhaps there is a sensitive area with an aquifer and the highest priority is eliminating pollution within this area. Whatever the rationale, the first level prioritization should be discussed publicly, and then the weighting factors within an identified area should also be publicly evaluated and agreed by and among the municipal stakeholders.
STEP 3: Map the Brownfield sites (Optional)
It is helpful to create a visual map of the Brownfield sites within your community because visualization helps in setting priorities, identifying potential site consolidations, and correcting errors in the data. For municipalities with only a few Brownfield sites a map can be created manually by marking up an existing municipal map. It is also common to import coordinates, addresses, or block and lot information into a Geographic Information Services (GIS) based map. Various sources can be used to assist in creating GIS maps. Some municipalities have GIS capabilities and can complete their own Brownfield Inventory Maps. Most counties have GIS capabilities and are able to map the sites. Many county colleges also have this capability. Importing sites into a GIS-based map has many benefits. Layers can be added to provide information related to utilities, accessibility to transportation options, nearby sensitive populations such as schools or nursing homes, access to existing open space, proximity to natural resources, etc. This information is useful in prioritizing sites.
The DEP web site also has a mapping tool, GeoWeb, which can provide useful information on selected sites. For a tutorial on how to use the GeoWeb feature—Go to the GeoWeb page: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/gis/geowebsplash.htm and click on "View the Tutorials" in the list on the left hand side of the screen. The various tutorials and demos are tailored to different levels of experience; select the correct one for you and you will see the various options available for mapping Brownfield sites.
What to submit to get credits/points
A Brownfields Inventory (20 points) must have been completed or updated within the past 6 years. Brownfield Inventories submitted for Sustainable Jersey points must/can include:
- (Required) Inventory information downloaded from DEP Dataminer and a written policy for regularly updating the Brownfields Inventory that includes who is responsible and how often this will occur;
- (Required) Documentation of all public meetings pertaining to development of the prioritization factors, a description of the weighted factors used to determine priority Brownfield sites, and a listing of the priority sites; and
- (Optional) Mapping of the Brownfields or priority sites based on the Block/lot information or the X/ Y coordinate information.
In the text box, please provide a short narrative (300 word max) to summarize what was accomplished and the general steps taken to accomplish the prioritization inventory.
- Upload File 1: Upload the Brownfield Inventory with documentation to show that it was completed or updated within the past 6 years. For an updated inventory, please indicate what has been reviewed and/or updated.
- Upload File 2. Provide a statement or documentation that the municipality has a policy for regularly updating the Brownfields Inventory.
- Upload File 3. Upload the description of the prioritization factors and weightings.
- Upload File 4. Upload the list of priority Brownfield sites.
- Upload File 5. Upload the Brownfield site map.
IMPORTANT NOTES: Please excerpt relevant information from large documents. Please remember that your submissions will be viewable by the public as part of your certified report.
Spotlight: What NJ towns are doing
In 2010 Jersey City released the Morris Canal Brownfield Inventory. This listing of sites and accompanying map was created in partnership with New Jersey City University and with grant funds provided by the New Jersey Association of Environmental Commissions (ANJEC). This map catalogues the Brownfield sites in the Morris Canal Redevelopment Area, located in the Lafayette neighborhood of Jersey City. The map includes potential contamination, cleanup efforts and redevelopment plans in an effort to attract new investment to the area to revitalize the Brownfields sites. The inventory and map can be accessed at:
http://www.thejcra.org/index.php?p=news&nid=57
Resources
- DEP Dataminer: http://www.nj.gov/dep/opra/online.html
- NJ SiteMart: http://www.njbrownfieldsproperties.com
- Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
- City Directories, Criss Cross Directories, Phone books
- Tax Assessor's database
- Owner interviews
- http://www.epa.gov/Brownfields/
- http://www.nemw.org/images/stories/documents/Brownfield_Getting_Started.pdf (PDF)
- http://www.epa.gov/oust/pubs/pbfdevelopinventories.pdf (PDF)