Brownfields Study Group

• Successes
• "Green Meeting" Goals & Objectives
• 2011 Study Group
• General Meeting Information
• Meeting Notes
• 2010 Study Group
• 2009 Study Group
• History
• Study Group Reports
• Contacts

Successes

More than 40 people attended the April 15, 2009 Study Group meeting, held at the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center near Baraboo, Wisconsin (photo by Eric Ballas, DNR).

The Brownfields Study Group was created in 1998 at the direction of the governor and State Legislature, to evaluate Wisconsin's current brownfields initiatives and recommend changes, as well as propose additional incentives for the cleanup and reuse of brownfields, which are abandoned or underused properties with real or perceived contamination. Now in its eleventh year of existence, the Study Group continues to build on its legacy of progress, which has included the following recommendations:

• created the DNR Brownfields Site Assessment Grant Program; to date the SAG Program has awarded $18 million to more than 200 communities to begin investigation and cleanup on more than 1,600 acres; these activities included 825 site assessments and investigations, the removal of more than 700 storage tanks and containers, and the demolition of more than 630 structures and buildings;
• created the DNR Brownfields Green Space and Public Facilities Grant Program, which helped communities clean up contaminated properties for public use; the Green Space Program awarded more than $2 million to 18 communities;
• created the Wisconsin Brownfields Insurance Program (WBIP) and VPLE insurance program; only two other states in the country have similar programs, which enable developers, businesses, local governments and other parties involved in cleaning up contaminated properties to obtain insurance, helping them manage risks for unplanned expenses related to brownfields redevelopment;
• helped establish the One Cleanup Program (OCP) Agreement between U.S. EPA Region 5 and the DNR; the OCP is the most comprehensive agreement of its kind in the country and will help expedite cleanups of contaminated properties across Wisconsin; and,
• numerous other changes to state liability and financial programs, which continue to help expedite the efficient cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields across the state, and maintain Wisconsin's status as one of the top brownfield programs in the nation.

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Brownfields Study Group "Green Meeting" Goals & Objectives -- Adopted April 22, 2009

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2011 Study Group

• 2011 Brownfields Study Group Member List [PDF]

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2010 Study Group

• 2010 Brownfields Study Group Member List [PDF]

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2009 Study Group

• 2009 Brownfields Study Group Member List [PDF]
• Brownfields Study Group April 2, 2009, letter to Senator Herb Kohl on the federal brownfields funding [PDF]
• Brownfields Study Group April 2, 2009, letter to Representative Dave Obey on the federal brownfields funding [PDF]

2009 Subgroups

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History

The Brownfields Study Group was created in 1998 at the direction of the governor and State Legislature, to evaluate Wisconsin's current brownfields initiatives and recommend changes, as well as propose additional incentives for the cleanup and resue of brownfields, which are abandoned or underused properties with real or perceived contamination.

Interest in cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields properties has become a major policy issue at the national, state and local levels. With the passage of the Land Recycling Law in 1994 and brownfields provisions in the 1997-99 biennial budget, Wisconsin continued it's efforts toward becoming a national leader in the area of brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. Within the brownfields language of that 1997-99 budget, members of the Brownfields Study Group were asked to work with a number of parties with similar interests in brownfields, from a wide array of backgrounds.  The Study Group served as an overall coordinating body and policy development group, while brownfields issues were discussed at length in the smaller, issue-driven subgroups, whose membership expanded beyond the formal membership of the Brownfields Study Group.  State staff were assigned to help facilitate these smaller issue groups and ensured that momentum was maintained on addressing those issues.

The Brownfields Study Group submitted its Final Report to the Joint Finance Committee of the State Legislature January 1, 1999, achieving its goal of providing the state with an effective package of brownfields incentives to further enhance the cleanup and reuse of these properties.  Many of these provisions were included in the 1999-2001 state budget (please see "Brownfields Initiatives in the 1999-2001 State Budget" for more information).

Thanks to the good work of the 1998 Study Group, the State Legislature requested the Study Group continue its efforts in 2000.  The Study Group met throughout the year and again presented a final report to the Legislature in November, 2000.  Both of these repors are available as links on this web page (please see "Study Group Reports" below).

Since that time, the Study Group has provided recommendations for every biennial budget session, and continues to meet and work on brownfield funding and policy initiatives in 2009.

Study Group Reports

• 2000 Brownfields Study Group Final Report [PDF 461KB]
  Final Report of 2000 Study Group requested by State Legislature. Contains 70 proposals for improving Wisconsin's brownfields initiatives.
• 1999 Brownfields Study Group Final Report [PDF 324KB]
  Comprehensive study by the DNR, other state agencies and interested parties of the issues affecting the cleanup and reuse of brownfields. Includes more than 70 proposals to the State Legislature for the biennial budget.

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Study Group Contacts

Please contact Darsi Foss (608.267.6713), or Andrew Savagian (608.261.6422) if you have any questions about this group.