Land-use controls save time, money
Land-use controls have become common tools developers take advantage of to get their cleanup projects completed on time and on budget.
“These are protective and they allow things–property transfers and development–to move forward,” says Joe Hickey, voluntary cleanup program and brownfields coordinator for the Washington state Department of Ecology.
Land-use controls can be divided into two categories: institutional and engineering. When an institutional or engineering control is used, that means some contamination is being left behind. The land-use controls are put in place so that contamination doesn’t harm any people or the environment any further. When using land-use controls in cleanup projects, property owners are essentially giving up a right to the land’s future use.
When property is sold, the land-use controls are included on the deed to the land; they do not simply go away with a new owner. A land-use control is a legally binding restriction on the property.
Institutional controls are used at contaminated sites that are cleaned up to standards that require restrictions on the future use of the site. They are commonly used today in cleanup projects, says Ann Levine, cleanup program coordinator for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Some examples of institutional controls include allowing only industrial use of the land, restricting where buildings can be constructed, not allowing extraction of ground water for drinking water or other uses on the land, or requiring cleanup if an existing structure or pavement is removed.
Engineering controls are containment or treatment systems used to prevent or limit the movement of or exposure to contamination. They may include a tool such as a cap or groundwater containment system. With engineering controls, a property owner may be required to put money aside to ensure that five to 20 years from now, there are sufficient funds for the replacement or operation of the engineering control.
Land-use controls are tracked and monitored by a state’s environmental agency. In the future, a more uniform tracking system is being developed to share information, particularly about institutional controls, between the EPA, states, local governments and the private sector. The Environmental Data Standards Council in February announced it approved data standards for use on the Environmental Information Exchange Network.
To determine if a land-use control is for you, you must first have a solid plan for the reuse of the property. In planning for remedial action, make sure you haven’t given up a use for the property that you value–or will value in the future, says Keith Donahue, brownfields program manager for the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
“It’s tougher if you don’t know what you want to do” with the land, Donahue says.
Donahue is a supporter of land-use controls. Idaho DEQ has done 14 or 15 of these in the last five years. In all incidences they’ve enabled people to move forward with less expense, he says.
Still, says Hickey, there’s really only one way to eliminate any restrictions on your land. “The old tried-and-true clean it up is still the most popular because there are no encumbrances,” he says.
