Land use controls (LUCs) are legal restrictions that protect the public from exposure to residual contamination at brownfields. LUCs are designed to limit land use that might interfere with the containment of residual contamination after completion of a cleanup. For example, an LUC may prohibit excavation past a certain depth to avoid disturbing contaminated soil. LUCs are typically used in tandem with containment caps. In many cases, the parking lot on a redeveloped brownfield may double as a containment cap that has restrictions against excavation and requirements for periodic monitoring.

The key difficulty with LUCs is accurately tracking the restriction on land use and getting that information to the right people at the right time. Changes in owners and tenants can cause LUCs to be lost over time, thus threatening a breach of containment that would expose the public to hazardous residuals. This article explains how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tasked Computer Sciences Corporation and the International City/County Management Association to develop a National Land Use Control Web Ring to make it easier to find land use restriction information. ...

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