| Relaunched, Recommitted
A brownfield is a current commercial or industrial site that is vacant or underutilized and which is or is suspected to be contaminated. DEP’s innovative and voluntary BDA program partners with a municipality or redevelopment authority and its stakeholders to focus technical and financial resources on brownfield sites, with a vision for redevelopment and community revitalization.
To date, the BDA program has transformed more than 1,000 acres of blighted brownfields into productive reuses that have created stronger, fairer communities, while benefiting local, regional, state and global environments. Overburdened communities have the highest density of brownfield sites, which present opportunities to provide new community assets to underserved communities that lack environmental and/or public health benefits.
The 13 new BDAs are the first to be added to the program since 2009. Commissioner LaTourette announced the re-launch of the Brownfield Development Area program in October 2023 at the former National Lead site, which is part of the Sayreville Waterfront BDA. The Sayreville Waterfront BDA has received a $120 million investment in remediation work, including $20 million in Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Funds (HDSRF) that helped leverage $100 million in private sector funding and $400 million in NJ Economic Development Agency ASPIRE tax incentives.
Applications for the new BDA designations were scored by the DEP’s Office of Brownfield and Community Revitalization for completeness, description of local redevelopment plans, support for redevelopment plans, level of community involvement, and anticipated benefits to the community, public health and the environment. The approved applications include two or more brownfield sites in a contiguous area.
The next step for the approved applications is the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the DEP, each municipality, and BDA Steering Committee. The MOU defines the brownfield sites and the partners working toward remediation and redevelopment. Once the MOUs is signed, the DEP will officially designate the respective BDAs.
Praise for the BDA Program
This is a pivotal moment for Egg Harbor City,” said Egg Harbor City Mayor Dr. Lisa Jiampetti. “With this new BDA Designation, essential tools, and funding, we can address long-neglected, contaminated sites. By collaborating with NJDEP, redevelopers and other stakeholders, we will turn these areas into vibrant spaces that energize our community and create lasting opportunities for future generations.”
“The Burlington community wishes to thank Governor Murphy and Commissioner LaTourette for designating the US Pipe location as a BDA,” said Burlington City Mayor Barry W. Conaway.” This commitment to Brownfield remediation is critical toward the continued efforts to ensure NJ residents are provided with a healthy environment.”
“On behalf of the more than 800 members of NAIOP NJ, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, we commend DEP for affirming and expanding its commitment to the BDA program,” said NAIOP NJ Executive Director Dan Kennedy. “While it’s easy to talk about smart growth principles and redevelopment goals, it is much harder to execute on these plans to ensure that the economic, environmental and community benefits are actually realized. The private sector plays a big part in executing redevelopment plans but needs support from state and local government partners in the form of financial incentives and perhaps more importantly, project by project coordination to accelerate the investigation, remediation and redevelopment of environmentally challenging sites. The newly designated BDAs and those already designated represent a huge opportunity to clean up sites and get them back to productive uses including but not limited to critically needed housing, logistics assets including warehouses, and community facilities like trails and parks.”
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