At press time, the 111th Congress was working towards a mid-December adjournment, after grappling with monumental issues—economic crisis and stimulus, energy and climate change, and health care—that left less global issues, such as brownfields, struggling to move off the back burner. From a direct brownfields and sustainable development perspective, little in the way of concrete legislative achievement has been realized so far in this Congress. We saw no brownfield program reauthorization, no permanent brownfield tax incentive passed, and no sustainability initiative enacted. And a couple of key programs—HUD's BEDI and Section 108 programs—remain in limbo.

On the other hand, Congress continued to fund brownfield programs: EPA's was one of the few appropriations to pass this year. The $787 billion stimulus provided numerous opportunities for creative state, local, and private reuse to promote brownfield revitalization and sustainable development efforts. In addition to $100 million for brownfield projects, it also included significant new incentives for "green" construction and development. And $25 billion in "recovery zone" bonding authority was allocated in June, which could play a critical role in brownfield and sustainability investments depending on how states and local governments choose to use it. ...

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