Brownfields is a term used to describe real estate that is contaminated or perceived to be contaminated by hazardous substances or petroleum in soil or groundwater. The complexity and cost of cleanup creates an obstacle to redevelopment or reuse of property. Brownfields examples include closed landfills, abandoned gas stations, old manufacturing facilities, and former dry-cleaning facilities. The cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields brings many economic development benefits to a community.
Brownfields Land Recycling Program
The Phoenix Brownfields Land Recycling Program began in 1998 with funding from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Assessment grant. The grant funding was a catalyst for the creation of a permanent brownfields program in 2000. Phoenix has committed to brownfields redevelopment over the past 20+ years with technical and financial assistance. Through EPA grants and municipal capital improvement bond funding, the City has acquired and cleaned up brownfields and provided grant funding to private sector and nonprofit organizations for public infrastructure improvements and development fees. Since program creation in 1998, more than $352 million in private investment has restored more than 322 acres of previously contaminated land and created or maintained over 3,000 jobs. In addition, more than 30 sites have been redeveloped for public use.
What are Brownfields?
Program Goal
The goal of the program is to reduce obstacles and provide assistance for the redevelopment of brownfields in the city. The program is managed by the Office of Environmental Programs and has two components: 1) assistance to city departments for the redevelopment of contaminated sites for public use, and 2) assistance to the private sector for the redevelopment of sites that benefit the community by reducing environmental exposures, job creation, services, and revitalizing neighborhoods.
Brownfields to Healthfields: Transforming Community Health through Sustainable Development
Phoenix has recognized there is an opportunity to cleanup and redevelop brownfields that directly impact public health through the reuse of these sites for food and healthcare assets. The impact of this project results in improved community health due to the elimination of exposure to hazardous substances and creation of opportunities for improved access to healthcare and healthy foods, which positively impacts environmental and health equity.
Phoenix was awarded a $400,000 community-wide brownfields assessment grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency completed in 2018 that was the catalyst for this work. Ten sites were cleaned up and redeveloped as urban farms, community gardens, school gardens, farmers market, and a food hub using these funds.
Phoenix has continued this Brownfields to Healthfields (B2H) initiative with technical assistance available in targeted areas with inadequate health care, food deserts, as well as designated infill incentive, neighborhood initiative, and redevelopment areas.
Project opportunities include:
- healthcare facilities, clinics (permanent and mobile),
- healthy food outlets: supermarkets, temporary food retailers, mobile markets, food hubs, farmers markets,
- urban agriculture: aquaponics, hydroponics, controlled environment agriculture, community supported agriculture, community and school gardens.
The Arizona Fresh: Agri-Food Innovation Center project is the most recent B2H example, which is transforming a former 100 acre landfill. This multi-phase project will ultimately create the nation’s leading source of innovation and education in the production and distribution of food. The main elements of the project are a wholesale produce distribution center, a retail food market, a community park, education, and research facilities related to food and agriculture.
Rio Reimagined Project
The Rio Salado and the surrounding area has a rich cultural history and was first settled by the Hohokam over 2000 years ago. The Hohokam created a canal system that the river fed, and this system allowed them to settle throughout the Salt River Valley. After World War II, many of the cities adjacent to this river and others that feed into it such as the Agua Fria and the Gila River transitioned from farming communities into commercial centers. During this time more than 200 sand and gravel operations located in the floodplain and between the banks of the three rivers. The area along the riverbeds became a dumping ground as more people moved in and business and residential development generated waste and disposal in abandoned mining pits was cheap and easy. Industrial facilities also dot the banks of the river.
The Rio Reimagined Project is a vision to revitalize the Rio Salado (Salt River), Aqua Fria and Gila Rivers, and the region by transforming over 45 miles of the river stretching from the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community at the eastern most boundary to the City of Buckeye to the west and encompassing more than 78,000 acres. The project aspires to reconnect the community with the river, to establish a unified vision, to be a catalyst for economic growth and inclusion, and to build a unique regional destination.
Rio Reimagined Assessment Coalition Grant Ending in September 2025
The City of Phoenix, in partnershop with the Arizona State University and the cities of Avondale and Tempe, received a $600,000 brownfields grant with the cities of Avondale, Tempe, and ASU. The City of Phoenix, as the lead applicant partnered with the other cities and ASU to pave the way for development of the river corridor. The target area for the grant is within 1.0 miles of the Salt River (Rio Salado), Agua Fria and Gila Rivers within the cities of Tempe, Phoenix and Avondale, Arizona. This brownfields grant provided financial assistance to private sector and nonprofits acquiring and redeveloping properties in Avondale, Tempe, and Phoenix for environmental site assessments, asbestos surveys, and lead-based paint surveys to aid in evaluating environmental conditions as part of future redevelopment. To date, the grant has provided inventories of selected areas in Avondale, Tempe, and Phoenix. In addition, assessments have been performed on 19 properties in Avondale, Tempe and Phoenix.
Brownfields General Obligation Bond Funds Awarded for City Projects
In 2023, Phoenix voters approved the $500 million General Obligation (GO) Bond Program. The brownfields program received $3 million to assist city departments with environmental assessment and cleanup of city facilities or city-acquired property. Approved projects will be prioritized and allocated over the five-year period of 2024-25 to 2028-29. Learn more about the GO Bond Program by visiting the Projects & Reports page. Visit the 2023 GO Bond Program site for more information.
Brownfields Resources
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Program provides grants, technical assistance, and guidance on cleanup and redevelopment.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Brownfields Program provides technical assistance and offers grants to qualified government agencies and nonprofits for environmental assessment and/or cleanup.
The Center for Creative Land Recycling provides education, technical assistance, and grant preparation for entities desiring to cleanup and redevelop brownfields.
The Del Rio Area Brownfields Land Use Plan (PDF) (en Español) outlines the community's vision for redevelopment of brownfield sites located in the area from Rio Salado south to Broadway Road, and between 7th avenue and 7th Street.