Molina Orders L.A. County to Create Brownfields Policy

Press Release - August 5, 2003

Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina’s motion to create a policy for purchasing and developing brownfields was approved by her colleagues at today’s Board of Supervisors meeting. (“Brownfields” is a term for abandoned or underutilized properties where redevelopment is hindered by real or perceived environmental contamination.)

Molina wants to create a brownfields policy that establishes a set of screening numbers for the most common contaminants found on brownfields sites. If the contaminants on a site fall below the screening threshold, there would be no need for further regulatory review—only any required mitigation measures and/or cleanup dictated by the assessment process.

Similar policies have been enacted in the Counties of San Diego and San Francisco, as well as the City of Oakland. Molina’s motion specifically directs the Chief Administrative Officer, Department of Public Works, Community Development Commission, County Counsel, and Department of Health Services to review those policies and to report back to the Board in three months with a policy uniquely tailored for Los Angeles County.

“It is long overdue that a County as large and as urbanized as Los Angeles adopt a brownfields policy,” Molina said. “My motion grew out of an experience my staff had in trying to develop a park on a brownfields site in my district. While the contamination was low and the health risk assessment showed development of a park was safe with certain mitigation measures, the County departments wanted an overly conservative amount of regulatory review where no such review was required by law.”

Over the last twenty years, the greater Los Angeles region has experienced a sharp decline in its manufacturing and industrial base because businesses have been relocating outside the area. As a result, Los Angeles County’s urban areas are rife with brownfields which create health risks for residents and sit idle because of regulatory roadblocks and excessive requirements driven by the fear of endless litigation.

With little available productive land in the urban core, businesses locate further toward the County’s outer boundaries, taking jobs with them and leaving the inner cities empty and underutilized. The California Center for Land Recycling estimates that there are between 90,000 and 120,000 brownfields sites in California alone.

“Brownfield sites sit idle and are blighting influences on our inner city neighborhoods,” Molina said. “By one estimate, one acre of redeveloped brownfields preserve up to four-and-one-half acres of open space. It is my hope that County departments come back to the Board with a brownfields policy which expedites the assessment and cleanup process while safeguarding public health and minimizing Los Angeles County’s exposure to litigation.”

Molina noted that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) keeps a list of screening numbers, as does California State Senator Martha Escutia’s bill—SB 32—which seeks to establish a set of screening numbers for the State of California.  Currently, California is one of only two states in the nation that does not have a brownfields policy. “The EPA recently committed over $2 billion to brownfields assessment and remediation over the next five years,” Molina added. “This represents fivefold increase in funding from the Federal government in this area. If we create a brownfields policy now, Los Angeles County will be in a position to take advantage of these funds.”

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