What are "Brownfields"?

Brownfields are real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Often the potential liability associated with contamination complicates business development, property transactions, or expansion on these properties.

Cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields properties is necessary to preserve neighborhoods, reduce urban sprawl, and stop the continued development of new industrial and commercial facilities on farmland. By investigating and cleaning up a brownfields property and taking care of the site's potential health or environmental risks, communities can use local land again - producing jobs, increasing the tax base, or adding other benefits such as creating a park or residential area.

Every city and county, in both rural and urban areas, has brownfields properties. KDHE currently has programs to assist communities with the redevelopment of brownfields properties.

Click here for more on KDHE's Brownfields Program |

Brownfields Newsletter and Listserv

Winter 2011-2010 Brownfields Newsletter (.pdf) |

Click here to sign up to receive periodic emails about Kansas Brownfields programs.

Brownfields Tax Incentive

The EPA has extended the Brownfields Tax Incentive retroactively through December 31, 2011. The tax incentive is explained in their new publication, A Guide to Federal Tax Incentives for Brownfields Redevelopment.

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