National Environmental
|
Resolution to
Support Public Health Principles and Guidance for Brownfields Policies and
Practices
Whereas:
• communities across the country, with the support of all levels
of government, are moving rapidly to redevelop abandoned or underused
properties (brownfields), which may be contaminated by toxic substances;
• the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has
identified at least 450,000 such sites nationally;
• federal and state laws in many jurisdictions are reducing
standards and liability for cleanup and otherwise speeding up the development
process; and
• there is risk that due diligence is not being given to ensuring
that health risks are being addressed as part of the development process;
Therefore, be it resolved that NEHA adopts the following document,
titled “Public Health Principles and Guidance for Brownfields Policies and
Practices.”
Be it further resolved that
NEHA will seek to disseminate these principles and this guidance as widely as
possible and to advocate their application to local, state, and federal
policies.
Public Health Principles
and Guidance for Brownfields Policies and Practices
National Association of
County and City Health Officials, September 1998
In
those communities with brownfields properties, where the health of the public
is an issue, NACCHO seeks to provide guidance to local health officials and
other agencies with the responsibility to protect public health. The purpose of
this guidance is to define an optimal response in linking public health to
economic redevelopment for those local health departments with the capacities
to meet the guidance. This guidance stresses the importance of working closely
with the community and values an expanded role for public health in economic
redevelopment processes. While all health agencies may not have the authority
and resources they need to play a comprehensive role in community
revitalization activities, the expanding number of brownfields properties and
efforts to speed up the development process in many jurisdictions require an
enhanced vigilance with respect to health consequences. Given the potential
health consequences of brownfields, all local health departments are encouraged
to address as many of these guidelines as possible.
General Principles
• “When
an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary
measures should be taken, even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not
fully established scientifically. In this context, the proponent of an
activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof…. The process
of applying [this principle] must be open, informed, and democratic and must
include potentially affected parties. It must involve an examination of the
full range of alternatives, including no action.” (Adapted from the Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle,
developed January 23–25, 1998, Racine, Wisconsin.)
• The
health of the public is intimately linked to economic prosperity, and economic
development is vital to creating healthy and sustainable communities.
• Economic
redevelopment potentially affects public health—positively and negatively.
• The
health of the community and the environment must be protected by ensuring that
development poses no known significant health threats during the cleanup
process or through future use.
• The
potential exposure to hazardous substances must be investigated.
Role of Public Health
Authorities in Site Activities and Decision Making
• Seek
to ratify the readiness of the property for redevelopment, drawing on local
health agency expertise when present, or seeking state/federal advice as
appropriate.
• Ensure
an audit of the site and assess health concerns, with active participation from
the community.
• Develop
a permanent process for integrating the work of public health, from start to
finish, into zoning, land use, and other activities related to redevelopment.
• Strongly
encourage partnerships between U.S. EPA and local health agencies to
institutionalize a public health role in assessing the brownfields property.
• Determine
the baseline health of the local community potentially affected by the proposed
site.
Full Collaboration and
Participation in Brownfields Process by Affected Community Residents
• Health
and planning officials should ensure that affected community residents have
early, sustained, and effective participation in all stages of brownfields
decision making and that mechanisms are available to make this participation
possible.
• Developers
and redevelopment authorities must provide adequate public notice of the
proposed development plan, including a timeline and where to submit comments.
• Members
of the public must be assured of an opportunity to submit written comments on
the proposed cleanup plan and/or to request a public meeting.
• Health
and planning officials should support strong community collaboration practices,
beyond those required by U.S. EPA; the National Environmental Justice Advisory
Council’s community collaboration principles—written by community
representatives—should be used as one possible example.*
Community
Knowledge, Training, and Assistance
Communities with local health agency leadership should
• build
the capacity of the community to participate by providing technical assistance,
training, advisory groups, and other support to ensure effective participation;
• provide
equal protection to all residents with respect to enforcement of all health and
environmental laws and standards, and work to ensure the adequacy of those
laws;
• expand
and protect the public’s right to know about contamination and strengthen
right-to-know, enforcement, and compliance activity in affected communities;
• provide
answers to the community’s questions about public health concerns;
• foster
the development of community leaders—capacity building for the community;
• provide
the public with access to any studies or reports completed for the
redevelopment project;
• post
signs at the site in question with information on the proposed plan;
• interpret
results of environmental impact assessments for communities (i.e., present
scientific data);
• work
with communities to evaluate the health risks redevelopment poses to the
community;
• keep
communities abreast of the results of environmental exposure assessments, as
well as public health activities needed given those assessments, and receive
more information on thresholds for public health effects; and
• engage
in outreach efforts to existing networks and to groups that ordinarily don’t
participate.
Standards for Sustainable
Communities
• Ensure
that the contamination is cleaned to appropriate health and environmental
standards and does not threaten public health.
• Ensure
that laws cannot be weakened primarily because of the cost of the cleanup.
• Ensure
that future use of the property does not include activity that will lead to new
health problems.
• Ensure
that properties designated for residential use or as schools, as compared with
industrial uses, require the strictest standards.
• Ensure
that cleanup standards and programs are not weakened.
• Ensure
that residents are fully involved in planning and implementation of relocation
plans whenever relocation is required, as well as a plan to ensure their
well-being in any relocation.
• Ensure
that brownfields reuse is compatible with local land use and community
perspectives.
Monitoring, Surveillance, and
Diagnosis
Local
health agencies should
• maintain
off-site testing requirements to ensure that contamination has not migrated;
• identify
the health effects of redevelopment;
• ensure
that the affected community participates in audits and assessments; and
• ensure
that public health issues are not overlooked.
Funding
for Public Health
U.S.
EPA and other bodies making grants to cities must provide funding for
• public
health agencies to participate in redevelopment activities,
• communities
to participate in redevelopment activities, and
• monitoring
and enforcement of institutional controls as required by law.
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