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Brownfields and
Land Renewal

Brownfields Assessments

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The goal of the Virginia Brownfields Program is to promote reuse of abandoned commercial or industrial properties by removing the uncertainty concerning the presence and extent of contamination.  Publicly sponsored brownfields projects can be assessed through a Site Screening  following the Voluntary Remediation Program Guidance and limited cleanup actions can be taken where appropriate.  The Virginia Brownfields Program provides the assessment as a free service to owners of qualifying sites.

Which sites qualify for the program?

To qualify for Brownfields Assessment, the site must meet the Federal definition of a Brownfields and should have contaminant issues that need to be addressed and a redevelopment plan supported by the local government and community.

The following criteria will be used to establish relative priorities among sites in the Brownfields Program where assessments are needed: 

  • Site control, access and ownership transfer cannot be an impediment to assessment and future redevelopment.
  • The site should have a proposed beneficial reuse.
  • The existing information should indicate a low to moderate contamination at the site. 
  • There should be indications of commitments in place for both cleanup (if necessary) and redevelopment. 

Brownfields Assessments

Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality performs brownfields assessments under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at no cost to communities, property owners or, prospective purchasers.  The assessment is an evaluation of environmental impacts caused by previous site uses similar to a Phase II Environmental Assessment.  The brownfields assessment includes, but is not limited to:
  • Research of the history of the property;
  • Review of any existing records or reports associated with the property; 
  • Sampling of the potentially contaminated media on the property; 
  • Laboratory analysis of the samples for the contaminants of concern; 
  • Screening of the results to determine if use of the site should be unrestricted.

The following report lists brownfields site specific assessments that have been completed.

Application form

The application form for the Brownfields Assessment Program can be found at this link. Please send the competed application form to:

Kevin Greene
Office of Remediation Programs
Department of Environmental Quality
P.O. Box 1105
Richmond, VA, 23218 

For more information about Virginia's Brownfields Program, contact Kevin Greene at (804) 698-4236

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