Resolution: Linking Brownfields Redevelopment and Greenfields Protection
Adopted on May 12, 2000

Whereas, the Great Lakes Basin has thousands of abandoned and/or underutilized industrial and commercial properties that have real or perceived contamination known as "brownfields;" and

Whereas, brownfields cleanup and redevelopment is challenged by issues of liability for past contamination, inadequate financing, weaker market conditions in central cities, among other problems, which present barriers to urban revitalization and encourage new development to migrate to outlying "greenfields"; and

Whereas, pollution from brownfields properties can migrate into, and thereby contaminate the waters of the Great Lakes, and low-density greenfields development and associated increases in impervious surfaces inhibits infiltration and flood control, increases runoff and pollutants discharged into surface waters and also degrades Great Lakes water quality; and

Whereas, state and federal efforts, including voluntary cleanup programs to reduce or eliminate barriers to brownfields redevelopment have helped spur urban revitalization; and

Whereas, many local, state and federal policies related to land development, transportation, infrastructure and economic development continue to favor new, low-density greenfields development over brownfields reuse; and

Whereas, agriculture is a leading industry in every Great Lakes state accounting for 30% of all agricultural sales in the U.S. and agricultural land encompasses more than half of the total land mass in the eight Great Lakes states, and twenty-two million of these acres lie within the Great Lakes Basin; and

Whereas, the binational Great Lakes region lost more than 11 million acres of farmland between 1981 and 1997; and

Whereas, urban revitalization through brownfields redevelopment represents an efficient use of land and existing infrastructure and helps to reduce pressure to convert farmland and open space to development; and

Whereas, the Great Lakes states are beginning to recognize the importance of connecting redevelopment of urban brownfields with the protection of greenfields to advance sustainable development and are undertaking initiatives to this end (e.g., Clean Michigan Initiative, Pennsylvania Growing Greener Initiative, Proposed Bond Initiative in Ohio dedicated to urban redevelopment and greenfields conservation measures).

Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the Great Lakes Commission recognizes that linking brownfields redevelopment and greenfields protection is an important step toward sustainable development; and

Be It Further Resolved, that the Great Lakes Commission urges its member jurisdications to provide for mutually supportive brownfields redevelopment and greenfields protection initiatives at the local level; and

Be It Further Resolved, that the Great Lakes Commission urges its member jurisdictions to review their programs to revise and reduce those policies that subsidize economic development in greenfields at the expense of development in areas with existing urban infrastructure; and

Be It Further Resolved, that the Great Lakes Commission urges its member jurisdictions to direct new large-scale greenfields development projects away from prime farmland; and

Therefore, Be It Finally Resolved, that the Great Lakes Commission urges its member jurisdictions to require fiscal impact analyses to evaluate the costs and benefits of locating large-scale projects (e.g, steel mills, intermodal distribution centers, auto assembly plants) in urban areas versus greenfields when public funding and/or tax incentives are involved.

Adopted by the unanimous action of the eight member states of the Great Lakes Commission at the 2000 Semiannual Meeting in Duluth, Minnesota on May 12, 2000.