March 24, 2004—The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) awarded the first “ready for reuse” determination to a US Army facility, Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, on February 25. A “ready for reuse” determination recognizes that a property has been evaluated and found environmentally safe. It clears the way for reuse of valuable natural resources by providing necessary encouragement and assurances to developers.
Based on the experience of the successful Brownfields program, the Land Revitalization Agenda was launched in 2003 to integrate land reuse in all of EPA’s cleanup programs (RCRA, Superfund, Brownfields, and Underground Storage Tanks). Cleanup remains the first and most important step, but revitalization and reuse is now a formal part of planning at every single site under the Land Revitalization Agenda. The EPA says reuse provides jobs, needed tax revenues, and recreational benefits to communities.
Fort Chaffee was officially placed on the Department of Defense’s Base Realignment and Closure Program, and the cleanup project was performed by a partnership of the US Army, Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, EPA Region 6, and ADEQ.
For more information about the Fort Chaffee “ready for reuse” determination or for EPA’s new guidance issued on February 18 to facilitate the reuse of Superfund sites, Guidance for Preparing Superfund Ready for Reuse Determinations at Superfund sites, visit EPA.
