Tribal Brownfields and Response Programs

Brownfields and other contaminated lands are found throughout the United States. Often legacies of an industrial past or bygone business, they dot the landscape of large and small communities. To address brownfields and environmental issues in Indian country, many tribes establish their own environmental protection and natural resource management offices, and create brownfields programs or "Tribal Response Programs." However, tribal communities often lack funding to sustain environmental program capacity building and continue to need outside technical assistance and expertise. Additionally, many tribes seeking to address brownfields in their communities face problems that are found in many small or rural areas in the United States. Rural locations typically do not have the technical resources that many larger communities have, nor the economic drivers associated with more dense populations that might spur cleanup and reuse.