From November 13 through 15, 2002, the seventh annual national brownfields confer ence — Brownfields 2002 — was held at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. This year's event was the largest (3,287 registrants) and perhaps most inspiring national brownfields conference to date, showcasing a wide range of potential new directions for the national brownfields program made possible by the new federal brownfields legislation that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 11, 2002. The conference began with an opening plenary session where Marianne Horinko, the Assistant Administrator for the Solid Waste and Emergency Response Office of the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency), acted as master of ceremonies.