Brownfields are rural or urban industrial commercial sites that are abandoned or underused because of real or perceived contamination. These sites can include anything from abandoned factories, mills, and gas stations to derelict hotels and dry cleaners. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that there over 450,000 brownfield sites around the United States. When properly managed, cleaned, and redeveloped, brownfield sites are valuable community resources that can breathe new life into economically depressed communities and serve as the centerpiece in comprehensive redevelopment strategies. 

The National Brownfields Training Conference is the largest gathering of stakeholders seeking out solutions, strategies, training, and redevelopment options for transforming these properties back into productive uses. ICMA and EPA have been working together to deliver this event for the past 25 years. Offered every 18 months to two years, the conference  consistently draws more than 2,000 attendees, and over the years has trained more than 45,000 attendees on successful strategies for cleaning up and redeveloping brownfield land and properties. 

Brownfields 2025 takes place in Chicago, Illinois, August 5-8, 2025. Learn more.
 

What Is Distributed Wind? 

Distributed wind (DW) technology is an efficient and cost-effective way to produce electricity on-site for homes, farms, businesses, public facilities, and more. DW technology can range from a standalone wind turbine powering specific devices to a network of turbines supplying power across multiple facilities. Through the deployment of onsite wind turbines, DW energy has the potential to diversify your community’s local energy resources, and help provide clean, renewable energy to homes and businesses. DW resources can generate reliable power and contribute to energy independence and resilience. You can read more about DW energy and its benefits on the Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office webpage.  

Project Details 

Distributed Wind Smart is a national designation program that recognizes communities that have taken key steps to address local barriers to distributed wind (DW) energy and foster the growth of DW markets. The program offers national recognition and no-cost technical assistance that helps local governments accelerate DW deployment and makes it possible for communities to access affordable renewable DW energy to meet their electricity needs. 

How Distributed Wind Smart Helps Your Community 

Today, more than ever before, local governments are committing to take action to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy, avoid the most disastrous impacts of the climate crisis, and advance social equity and environmental justice. Local governments are seeking guidance and solutions from credible, trusted organizations on the full range of solutions—from DW and solar to energy efficiency, clean transportation, building decarbonization, carbon sequestration, and more. ICMA and our partners have risen to meet this need. 

The Distributed Wind Smart program has two key parts. First, the program provides no-cost technical assistance to help local governments follow national best practices to expand DW energy use in their jurisdictions. Second, it recognizes and celebrates these communities with Distributed Wind Smart designations of Gold, Silver, and Bronze. 

For additional information, contact Sarah Yeager at syeager@icma.org. 

The USAID/Dominican Republic Solid Waste Reduction (SWR) Program aims to help municipalities implement the 2020 Solid Waste Management (SWM) Law and adopt circular economy models, involving national and local governments, the private sector, communities, and civil society organizations. ICMA will develop national policies for municipal-level implementation to improve solid waste systems. Key activities include long-term SWM training and technical assistance for municipalities, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA), the Dominican Federation of Municipalities (FEDOMU), and the Dominican Municipal League (La Liga).  It will also be working to track reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from the implementation of good solid waste management practices.

ICMA will work with these stakeholders to establish sustainable waste management practices, fostering resilient and environmentally responsible communities across the Dominican Republic. This project enhances municipal capacities, promotes sustainability, and supports global environmental goals, aligning with ICMA's mission to support local governments, ensure financial stability, build organizational capacity, and achieve operational excellence.

Project Details

Clean Cities, Blue Ocean (CCBO) is USAID’s flagship program in response to the global crisis of marine plastic pollution. Implemented by prime contractor Tetra Tech with ICMA as a subcontractor, the program seeks to improve solid waste management practices so that waste and plastics are managed directly at their source and prevented from reaching the ocean. CCBO’s focus areas consist of Southeast Asia (Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, The Maldives, and Indonesia), Latin America (Peru), the Caribbean (Dominican Republic), and the Pacific Islands (Figi, Papa New Guinea, the Federated States of Micronesia). CCBO is working both with multiple USAID Missions on country-specific implementation of national and local activities, and with USAID/Washington on global-level activities, using USAID’s five building blocks for reducing ocean plastic pollution as the foundation for the work, as illustrated below:

Under this program, ICMA has made significant contributions, especially in the following target areas:

• Governance Capacity
• Solid Waste Legal Compliance
• Revenue Funding
• Policy Development
• Planning

Governance Capacity

To provide guidance to local governments on how to understand where their systems need the most capacity develop and resource investments, ICMA developed an index assessment tool for CCBO known as the Solid Waste Capacity Index for Local Governments — referred to by the acronym SCIL (pronounced “skill”). The SCIL is intended to be a practical, self-assessment tool for local governments to improve their 3R/SWM systems by first determining the areas where gaps may exist in their capacity that are limiting their ability to create, expand, and/or sustain these systems. Once completed, SCIL scores are generated (see Figure 1) and can be used by staff to frame recommendations on how to improve the system in the future — and, when repeated and compared over time, can measure progress and track how a local government is advancing its 3R/SWM system toward best practices.

As of April 2024, over 20 cities have used this practical and methodical approach to identify and discuss the many complex and interrelated issues presented in the six solid waste components. In each city, the assessments resulted in a set of recommendations (developed and prioritized by the staff) that became the foundation for updated SWM plans, future city budget requests, and joint program work plans with each city.

These outputs weren’t the only achievement. The SCIL process often exceeded expectations. For example, by simply establishing a 3R/SWM group and bringing together agency representatives with the common goal of assessing the city’s 3R/SWM system, it often created a pathway to communication and collaboration where it had not existed previously. Additionally, the recommendations often were ground-breaking and adopted by the cities, leading to achievements in funding, policies, compliance, and planning.

Solid Waste Legal Compliance

Many national governments have passed national solid waste laws that impose programmatic, policy, and financial requirements on local governments. Following all these standards can be very important — not only to avoid penalties for noncompliance but also to benefit from the related improved environmental and health practices. Because of the many areas requiring compliance, however, it can be difficult for local governments to know whether they are following each statute. So, a thorough analysis is required.

To support this process, ICMA developed an approach, and provided support, so that each CCBO engagement site could conduct a Solid Waste Compliance Gap Analysis, which starts with the identification of clauses in every national or provincial solid waste law for which a local government is responsible for taking action. These clauses are entered into a spreadsheet and categorized according to the six components of a solid waste system used in the SCIL. A comparison can then be made between what these clauses require and the current practice within a jurisdiction and characterized as either compliant, partially compliant, or noncompliant. Some of these clauses are straight-forward instructions, such as “prohibit cows from accessing all landfills.” Others establish goals that must be achieved, such as “30% reduction through source segregation by 2030.” For those clauses that are determined by the staff to be not in full compliance, a recommendation is crafted that describes what is needed for the city to achieve compliance. This results in a large spreadsheet that examines as many as 90 different aspects of environmental laws with which the city must comply.

A report is then developed to make sense of all this information and provide a clear path forward. To help organize and present this information, ICMA developed an outline that serves as a template to document the process that was used, the laws examined, and quantify how many partially compliant or noncompliant clauses the city needs to address.

The next step in conducting the Solid Waste Compliance Gap Analysis is to then present all the recommendations and summarize the recommended actions (by the six categories) that the jurisdiction needs to take to become in compliance with the national or provincial laws. In this way, the report provides a clear checklist of items that the jurisdiction needs to undertake. If there are a significant number of recommendations, it is recommended that an additional step be taken to prioritize them before presenting a schedule of when each item should be completed.

These reports, when presented to the governing bodies, have proven to be quite informative and have effectively become a briefing on what steps need to be taken to be legally in line with national and provincial solid waste priorities.

Revenue Funding

Insufficient funding is a major issue in almost every country CCBO supports. The reasons for this varied, but a common issue is that new sources of revenue were needed that could be specifically used to make improvements to solid waste systems. To address this problem, ICMA developed the Funding Options for Solid Waste Systems in Low- to Middle-Income Countries report, which provides context and an approach for local governments to explore 3R/SWM funding options. The report provides examples of different self-generated and third-party options to raise these revenues.

CCBO also held funding option workshops for each program-supported city, where local stakeholders discussed their funding needs, learned about the options described in the funding options report, examined what opportunities or limitations existed for raising the revenues needed, and identified actions. The results were very positive. Almost every city was able to identify one or more ways to raise revenues. One city, Iloilo in the Philippines, made an immediate decision to simply raise its solid waste fees and fines by 100%. This was approved by the local council and a date was set for the fee changes. A popular funding option that is being explored by multiple CCBO cities is a solid waste fee for tourists (who generate a significant quantity of waste). This may be collected as a charge by room-night at hotels, as a port of entry fee, or at attraction sites. In Indonesia, the city of Makassar determined it could raise the equivalent of US$400,000 annually to increase funds for its solid waste system by imposing a $1 USD fee at its tourist destinations.

Policy Development

ICMA has also supported CCBO cities to institutionalize the changes that have been recommended through new policies, laws, and plans that are officially approved and adopted by their governing bodies. These statutes have taken several forms and cover a variety of topics, including changes to environmental codes, solid waste regulations, and tax laws. What is key, though, is that CCBO cities codify fundamental long-term improvements that will remain in place even if government staff or elected officials come and go, bringing much needed stability to programs and services that are often challenged by regular changes in leadership.

Planning

Together with CCBO implementing partners Tetra Tech Solid Waste West, ICMA has also supported CCBO cities to develop or strengthen SWM plans to be strategic and data-driven — not simply describing aspirations on how to move toward a circular economy, but describing the logistics and costs of what needs to be put in place for goals to be met. For example, in Phu Quoc, Vietnam, the SCIL Implementation Group recommended that a Solid Waste Segregation Plan be developed. The staff completed the plan, and it is likely to be one of the more strategic and data-driven plans ever approved by a people’s committee in Vietnam. The implementation of this plan, approved in December 2023, should institutionalize Phu Quoc’s waste reduction approach to 3R/SWM for years to come.

Learn more about the Clean Cities Blue Ocean project on the program’s webpage on USAID’s Urban Links website:

Project Details

The five-year Central Tibetan Administration Capacity Building and Sustainability Initiative (CTA-CBI) is a 5-year project funded by the USAID mission in India designed to strengthen the organizational capacity of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in order to be more effective and sustainable in delivering services to Tibetans and achieving community self-reliance. The project has two key objectives: 

1. Strengthened Central Tibetan Administration Leadership and Planning

2. Improved Management Systems of CTA and Settlement Institutions  

As a major subcontractor to the National Democratic Institute (NDI), ICMA leads the implementation of Objective 2. The project is implemented in a phased approach and supports the CTA in developing strategic plans to address policy needs; strengthening governance and human resources management systems; implementing new data management improvement plan; developing a CTA-wide staff training institute and implementing new staff training systems; generating economic opportunities; and conducting citizen outreach activities, including specific youth and women’s engagement components and diaspora outreach.  

In support of improvements to the CTA’s management systems and Settlement Institutions, ICMA leads the following activities: 

Institutional Strengthening Through Improved Systems and Processes

ICMA has developed the Institutional Development Index (IDI) tool and used it on many projects worldwide to identify gaps, measure organizational strength and improve management systems and processes in a standardized way. Under CTA-CBSI, ICMA has tailored the IDI to assess the general organizational capacity of the CTA at the general organizational capacity at the department level, as well as management functions such as data management and human resources management. ICMA is currently working with multiple CTA departments to assess their existing management systems and processes, to support a data-driven and needs-based strategic planning process for their performance improvement. ICMA is also working with the CTA to implement a data management improvement plan, based on findings from a detailed IDI assessment of the current data management systems, ICMA has also supported the CTA in assessment of existing human resource systems of the CTA and is working with the Kashag (Cabinet) to address and implement recommended improvements in the CTA’s human resources management policy, systems and processes.

Training Policy Improvement

ICMA is currently working with the CTA’s Public Service Commission to develop a new training policy for staff, informed by a staff satisfaction survey and assessments made by the ICMA. The CTA-CBSI project is also supporting the development of a staff competency framework and a competency dictionary for CTA staff, which will inform future training modules and the differentiation needs of CTA training programs. NDI and ICMA are also working with the CTA to develop and operationalize a CTA-wide staff training institute to conduct staff training in a more cost-effective manner and ensure sustainability of improvements in CTA’s capacity of planning, designing, delivery, and evaluation of staff training programs.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Mapping of Tibetan Settlements

Through ICMA’s sub-awardee and local partner, the Urban Management Centre (UMC), the CTA-CBSI project has been conducting a comprehensive GIS mapping of Tibetan settlements in India. UMC and ICMA are also working with the CTA to establish a GIS cell to build sustainable capacity in CTA to create and assess future GIS maps. To support this work, ICMA and UMC have collaborated with Tibetan Settlement Offices (TSOs) to engage local Tibetan youths as field enumerators to assist the mapping exercises. In conjunction with the GIS mapping exercise, ICMA and UMC are collaborating on the development of a Settlement Improvement Plan (SIP) framework for the CTA. The SIP is a community-driven micro-plan aimed at fostering civic improvements within Tibetan settlements, empowering, and engaging local communities to identify, prioritize, and implement civic improvements.

Strengthening Tibetan Cooperatives to Foster Economic Growth

ICMA has recently worked with 19 Tibetan-owned cooperative societies to assess challenges and gaps, including their relationship with the CTA. In collaboration with the Federation of Tibetan Cooperatives (FTCI) and the CTA, ICMA is planning to present the findings of assessment of 19 cooperatives in order to synchronize efforts between the cooperatives and the CTA to capitalize economic opportunities. Moving forward, ICMA will work with FTCI to strengthen the cooperatives by addressing the existing gaps, enabling broader access to markets and facilitating engagements with the relevant Indian government agencies to leverage available resources. Furthermore, ICMA-led planned activities and interventions include facilitating human resource management exchanges with Indian cities through ICMA’s CityLinks™ methodology; developing and delivering public financial management trainings to CTA staff through collaboration of ICMA members and Indian city managers; coordinating with the USAID Tibetan Self-Reliance and Resilience (TSSR) project to standardize data management across CTA departments; mobilizing regional experts to help the CTA identify viable PPP models for encouraging sustainable growth; and organizing business forums to convene stakeholders and private-sector representatives interested in investing in the diaspora Settlements.

Project Details

In collaboration with The Asia Foundation (TAF), ICMA is implementing the USAID “The Effective, Efficient, and Strong Governance/Tata Kelola PemErintahan yang Efektif, Efisien, dan KuAT (ERAT)” program, a five-year USAID-funded program that works with the government of Indonesia (GOI), six provinces, and 30 districts (local authorities) to improve Indonesian service delivery at the subnational level by establishing governance systems to enhance oversight mechanisms and effectively manage key services for the citizens of Indonesia. 

The ERAT program works to achieve three interrelated intermediate results (IRs): 

1. Coherence between national and subnational policies strengthened.

2. Performance of local service delivery enhanced.

3. Local budget allocation and execution improved. 

As part of an extended start-up, ERAT focused on conducting political economy analyses (PEA) and co-designing outyears of the program with the government of Indonesia and other stakeholders at the national and subnational level. The PEAs were conducted in six provinces (North Sumatra, Banten, East Java, West Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, and East Nusa Tenggara), as well as at the national level. Following the national and subnational PEAs, the ERAT team conducted a series of co-design workshops to facilitate dialogue and consensus among stakeholders at the national level and in the six ERAT priority provinces about the design of USAID ERAT. The results of the co-design serve as an input into the Life-of-Activity Implementation Plan of ERAT. 

​​​ICMA currently leads the implementation and coordination of interventions at the local level through its district facilitators, embedded in 30 district governments throughout the six ERAT project provinces. Led by four senior technical staff based in Jakarta, ICMA’s activities on ERAT also include the following technical priorities: 

• Streamlining of performance management systems across national level ministries: ICMA has supported the improvement of various monitoring and evaluation systems for subnational governance, such as the Evaluation of Subnational Government Implementation (EPPD), Local Governance Index (ITKPD), National Public Service Complaint Management System – Public Service Complaint Management System (SP4N-LAPOR!), the one-stop public service mall (MPP), Monitoring and Evaluation for Public Service Implementation Quality (PEKPPP), and Subnational International Cooperation. 

• Facilitating communication and coordination across government of Indonesia line ministries, provincial governments, and key stakeholders: ICMA has participated in monthly coordination meetings with USAID-FASKER (Executive Agency of ERAT’s project); thematic discussions on critical issues like child, early, and forced marriage prevention; and potential partnerships with ERAT-supported districts through CityLinks™ initiatives. 

• Leading engagement with Indonesian ministries, provincial governments, and district governments in the adoption of digital governance systems: ICMA has implemented the Electronic Government (SPBE) and Indonesia's One Data (Satu Data Indonesia) interventions, resulting in increased ratings for SPBE maturity levels and data development following open data and open government principles for 22 districts/cities. 

Cities for Enhanced Governance and Engagement (CHANGE) is a USAID-funded five-year activity designed to support strengthened democratic governance in the Philippines by making local governance more responsive, transparent, and accountable. CHANGE fosters capacity and harmony of governments, civil society, and private sector to improve the implementation of decentralization, enhance local governments’ legitimacy and effectiveness, and empower citizens. 

CHANGE is based on the premise that collective actions and stronger partnerships between local governments and the communities that make up their constituencies will bring democratic governance closer to the people. More specifically, the improved implementation of decentralization in the Philippines will help strengthen democratic governance in the country. CHANGE has three key objectives, as follows: 

Objective 1: STRENGTHENED ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR DECENTRALIZATION 

Objective 1 supports national and local policymakers in ensuring a stable and supportive policy framework for decentralization through strategic guidance and on-demand analytical support. Activities under this component focus on accelerating decentralization reform and implementation, strengthening the national government's role in supporting local government autonomy and responsiveness, and strengthening national government incentives for the promotion of Local Government Unit (LGU) good governance practices.   

• Contributed to the updated national guidelines on the accreditation of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on the selection of representatives to local special bodies (Department of the Interior and Local Government Memorandum Circular 2022-083). 

• A minimum 10 percent increase in the number of accredited CSOs in eight CHANGE cities from 2019 to 2022. 

• Over 30 policies that advance decentralization reform formulated. 

• 184 participants from the national government supported/engaged through capacity development activities and dialogues. 

Objective 2: ENHANCED SERVICE DELIVERY CAPACITY, LEGITIMACY, TRANSPARENCY, AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF PARTICIPATING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 

Objective 2 addresses supply-side factors, where local governments have the primary duty and responsibility to provide opportunities and incentives for citizens and CSOs to be engaged in local governance. CHANGE enhances participatory governance in all facets of government operations and service delivery. Activities under this objective include strengthening cities’ capacity for effective citizen engagement, mainstreaming transparency in public administration and governance processes, and building capacity for multi sector collaboration and collective action. CHANGE pursues institutionalizing reforms that can withstand changes in administration or political leadership. 

• Eight LGUs with citizen inputs prioritized in harmonized local plans and programs. 

• Four cities with Freedom of Information Ordinance. 

• Two city legislative councils with CSOs in a voting capacity.  

• $460,000 (Php 25.3 million) leveraged from the national government and various local sources toward citizen engagement and local governance initiatives. 

• 3,643 participants from various local governments supported/engaged through capacity development activities and dialogues. 

Objective 3: EMPOWERED CITIZENS THROUGH INCREASED PARTICIPATION IN AND OVERSIGHT OF LOCAL GOVERNANCE PROCESSES IN WAYS THAT GOVERNMENT BOTH APPROVES AND SUPPORTS 

Objective 3 focuses on the demand side of governance by increasing civic engagement and strengthening the capacity of local CSOs, sectoral representatives, and community members to effectively advocate reforms, participate in decision-making, and hold their local governments accountable. Toward this objective, CHANGE builds the capacity of CSOs and citizens, maximizes existing and planned citizen participation processes, and supports citizen-led initiatives and innovations. 

• Four cities with newly formed People’s Councils. 

• Over 467 CSOs participating in local governance mechanisms and legislative proceedings. 

• At least 18 local special bodies and sectoral committees in five cities now co-chaired by CSO representatives. 

• $6.6 million (Php 366 million) worth of city government projects monitored by citizens in nine cities. 

• 4,123 participants from civil society supported/engaged through capacity development activities and dialogues. 

Geographic Coverage 

The project covers 16 secondary cities in 10 regions across the Philippines, with nine cities in phase one (2021) and seven more cities in phase two (2024). 

About | Technical Assistance | Knowledge Resources | Contact

Project Details

About

ICMA TAB is a U.S. EPA grant-funded program that provides free technical assistance to brownfield impacted communities throughout the eight southeastern states and six tribes in the U.S. EPA Region 4 (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee). 

Through the ICMA TAB program, communities in EPA Region 4 can access free technical assistance to support brownfield redevelopment efforts.

What Are Brownfields?

What Are Brownfields?

In everyday terms, brownfields are properties that might be contaminated. The perceived (or actual) contamination makes reuse of such sites difficult. Common examples of brownfields include abandoned gas stations, former dry cleaner sites, vacant commercial buildings on any Main Street corridor, or the large fenced off industrial site where people in the community used to work. Brownfields and their redevelopment challenges are found in all communities—large, small, urban, and rural.  

Every site has a history. Some site histories include operations that might have released contamination, pollutants, or toxins into the soil, groundwater, and surface water. Buildings on brownfield sites may be impacted by past hazardous releases in the soil and/or groundwater beneath them, or even by the materials that comprise buildings themselves.  

Definition: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines a brownfield as, "a property where expansion, redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant".

Impacts

Impacts

Legacy sites and the former releases of petroleum, hazardous substances, or materials can create negative public and environmental health conditions that need to be addressed before a brownfield can be redeveloped. Brownfields also tend to fall into disuse creating a cycle of decline, and they may harbor unlicensed or illegal activity that is undesirable for the surrounding community. Such typical outcomes of unaddressed brownfield conditions have significant economic implications greatly reducing tax revenue, employment, and business opportunities. 

These impacts are not felt evenly across all communities. Lower income communities and communities of color endure a disproportionate share of brownfields and their negative impacts. As such, if equitable in implementation, brownfield redevelopment outcomes that address brownfield conditions often include advancement of environmental justice goals. 

Benefits of Redevelopment

Benefits of Redevelopment

Brownfield redevelopment catalyzes a host of benefits including job creation, economic development, healthier communities, improved natural environments, community building sustainability, resilience, and a stronger sense of place. Using improved public health and environmental quality to leverage economic development gets to the heart of brownfield redevelopment. 

Technical Assistance

ICMA TAB offers tailored technical assistance, free of charge, to assist in transitioning brownfields from liability to asset. This assistance is made possible through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Technical Assistance to Brownfield Communities (TAB) program. Throughout EPA Region 4, ICMA can provide technical assistance and give clear and actionable direction and feedback about specific sites, area-wide strategies, brownfield basics, best practices, technical subjects, building a brownfields program and program capacity, accessing EPA grant resources, and financial, legal, and regulatory processes, and more.

Contact

Clark Henry, director, chenry@icma.org

Christopher Harrell, senior program manager, charrell@icma.org 

Madalyn Dessy, assistant program manager, mdessy@icma.org

Apply for free technical assistance