The destruction of natural resources is a recurring feature of warfare. Indeed, throughout recorded history, environmental destruction has been used as a deliberate military strategy, and wartime actions affecting the environment constitute some of the most serious discrete instances of humanity's impact on the world's ecosystems. In this commentary, we consider the environmental consequences of warfare, with particular attention to the recent ecological disasters in Kuwait and in the former Yugoslavia. Armed conflicts are still raging worldwide, creating both immediate human tragedy and long-term ecological consequences. The authors argue that legitimizing the concept of environmental crime is an important part of establishing accountability and of providing appropriate recompense for acts of war. We propose that the principle of sustainability, and the right to environmental justice are the most pertinent basis for defining environmental crime. On this basis, we offer a core definition of the features of an environmental crime, and we call upon international leaders to assist in the establishment of legal frameworks that are adequate to address such crimes.

This article provides an overview of the effort sponsored by the Genesee County Parks and Recreation Commission in Michigan to “develop [and implement] a vision and plan for increased diversity and inclusion of the broader community in conservation initiatives.” Genesee County includes the city of Flint, Michigan, which has the largest brownfield site in the United States from the closing of General Motors Corporation facilities. Flint has a predominantly African American population surrounded by predominantly white suburban and rural areas. The first phase of this project focused on understanding differences of awareness, understanding, and perception about environmental and conservation issues through structured interviews of 23 diverse community leaders. Themes from the interviews included emphasis on different environmental issues, with people of color focusing on environmental challenges in their neighborhoods. Perceptions of people of color about local environmental organizations ranged from uncommunicative and uninvolved in environmental issues affecting people of color to elitist and exclusionary. Themes also included an interest by people of color community leaders in environmental issues and willingness to serve or recommend others to serve on boards of local environmental organizations. The failure to provide opportunities and guidance for youth of color about environmental careers was also a theme.

Environmental Practice 11:164–169 (2009)

Using author-collected data, this article examines state brownfield programs' activities in relation to liability abatement and financial cost reduction. The findings in this article show that states have very diverse mechanisms in place for the facilitation of the remediation and redevelopment of these properties—many of which have the potential for some serious unanticipated consequences.

Environmental Practice 11:270–284 (2009)

This study analyzes local institutions plus the practice of participatory decision making for promoting community development in fishing communities in Mozambique. This study covers the evolution of institutions and its impact at the household and community level particularly after the structural adjustments of 1987, which promoted new institutions at central and local levels, as well as the practice of participatory decision making. We combined participatory appraisals, focus-group discussions, and participant observation methods with quantitative data from structured surveys of representative samples for data gathered. Assisted by mode-of-regulation model and community power theory, our results demonstrated that since the policy shift in 1990, and particularly after 1994 (when public participation and decision making were introduced), central and local institutions were created, with some communities showing better results than others. By working together and depending on each other as social support networks, as well as by working with the government, people within fishing communities are generating secondary benefits by jointly building social infrastructure and community consensus to better cope with the impacts of adverse social and economic stresses that often occur in coastal regions of Mozambique. Specific stakeholder perspectives are accessed and analyzed for four time periods from 1987 to 2006.

Environmental Practice 11:32–51 (2009)

The state of brownfield remediation and rehabilitation approaches continues to advance significantly, particularly with respect to the types of brownfield technologies available for assessing and treating contaminants. However, largely absent is a structured means for integrating the objectives of multiple stakeholders (e.g., municipality, developer, regulator, community) comprehensively by using a classification method that can differentiate among the brownfields based on an overall suite of relevant characteristics—such as community issues, site characteristics, development potential, and financial viability—and analyze them categorically. Existing brownfield scoring schemes, ranking methods, and identification approaches that were developed in the past by various organizations can be used as classification mechanisms, but many of these systems are designed for a specific group of stakeholders or jurisdictions and cannot be used to evaluate situations outside their intended original use. Nevertheless, they provide useful starting points to consider what the desirable elements are within a comprehensive classification system. This article reviews 12 contemporary brownfield classification systems and analyzes their strengths and weaknesses. It concludes that the lack of a multidisciplinary approach in the development of the existing classification systems limits their use on a broader scale. Lastly, the article establishes the need for a broader multidisciplinary classification system that can serve as a basic framework for systematic decision making regarding brownfields.

Environmental Practice 11:285–300 (2009)

Brownfield redevelopment in many communities is now almost routine—a regular part of a larger community development strategy. Brownfield projects are treated in many instances as regular real estate transactions. Thus, for those brownfield properties in more attractive real estate markets, in communities with a high capacity for brownfield redevelopment, results are noticeable. This brownfield redevelopment scenario breaks down when applied to situations where there is low brownfield redevelopment capacity. Effective brownfield revitalization programs require substantial community support with public-private partnerships playing a critical role in building local brownfield capacity. The challenge lies in fostering these connections. This article reports on the findings from a case study in St. Louis, Missouri, that examined a regional effort to build brownfield capacity at the local level where community leaders brought together property owners and developers for a networking opportunity. Results show that direct intervention can help build brownfield capacity.

Environmental Practice 11:170–178 (2009)

Environmental professional certification programs evolved from earlier forms of validation, including apprenticeships, training programs, education programs, and licensing. During the Industrial Revolution, would-be professional artists and artisans apprenticed themselves to practitioners who had earned a favorable reputation. Generations of mentors and students proved themselves by practicing their trades, and, if they did what they did well, they did well. Our Information Age, however, has imposed new requirements on many practitioners. Beyond training, they might need certificates attesting to training, degrees attesting to learning, and licenses allowing them to practice. The Information Age, ironically, was compensating for information inadequacy, as the number of practitioners and specialties grew and as the distances over which practitioners were recruited expanded more rapidly than word of mouth and thus more rapidly than reputation.

This article highlights the key actions implemented by Minnesota to address issues related to brownfields and focuses on a number of key legislative and state agency actions that began in the 1980s. The article acknowledges that many of the brownfield actions taken by the Minnesota legislature and state government agencies would not have taken place—as they did or when they did—if it were not for the efforts and contributions made by dozens of individuals and other public, private and non-profit organizations. The article emphasizes that the actions taken by the Minnesota legislature and the brownfield programs in the state have been very successful at encouraging private and public parties to buy, invest, sell and redevelop brownfields. However, the article further states that there are still many brownfields in Minnesota that have not yet been addressed, and that challenges still exist. It is important to recognize past contributions and accomplishments, but even more important to support and strengthen existing programs that encourage new initiatives.

Environmental Practice 11:301–310 (2009)

Water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) is an integrated water management system that encompasses low-impact design (LID), water conservation and recycling, water quality management, and urban ecology. WSUD increasingly is becoming a key component in establishing appropriate sustainable supply planning in urban areas around the globe, as well as in contributing to flood prevention and water quality protection. Water resource management is one of the greatest challenges of the present century. As populations climb, per-capita use increases, and current water supplies grow shorter, water resources are becoming more critical globally. Most urban areas face difficult choices and expensive solutions to meet existing and future demand. WSUD provides one of the key approaches to resolving these dilemmas. This article describes newly emerging models of WSUD and its implementation. The discussion begins with an overview of key WSUD planning and design principles and regulatory drivers, which is followed by the WSUD toolkit and example selection process for its implementation, drawing on examples of urban areas grappling with a range of water resource management issues. This article also touches on how WSUD elements can serve the dual purpose of improving functional water infrastructure and beautification. These ideas are presented within the scope of urban current planning and design. This article then provides approaches to identifying targets and implementing WSUD in several model case studies.

Environmental Practice 11:179–189 (2009)

This commentary highlights efforts to promote health monitoring in brownfields communities. Both the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) recognize how public health may be improved by including a holistic approach to redevelopment that includes community health monitoring activities. Health monitoring goes beyond testing blood samples to address potentially toxic exposures and can be implemented to assess overall community health status throughout the course of community revitalization efforts. Examples of health monitoring activities include asthma or blood lead level screening, reviewing health statistics, environmental testing, and evaluation of community-specific health concerns. While health monitoring is encouraged as an activity within US EPA Brownfields funding, the number of communities that implement health monitoring programs is low. To encourage more communities to implement health monitoring activities, with or without Brownfields funding, this paper describes several projects by health agencies and communities to represent best practice examples. To facilitate more community health monitoring projects, the ATSDR has created and continues to create tools and resources to assist brownfield and land-reuse communities. In addition, the ATSDR and the US EPA are working together to build internal as well as community capacity to monitor community health through redevelopment activities.

Environmental Practice 11:190–195 (2009)

As Congress begins to entertain proposals to reauthorize the Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Program, local governments will be paying particular attention to one issue: a proposed amendment to grant public agencies greater liability protection when they acquire contaminated property. Supporters contend that cities play a unique role in brownfield redevelopment—acquiring, cleaning up, and repositioning properties that are unlikely to attract private investment either because of depressed neighborhood conditions or because the properties are being held off the market by corporate mothballing practices. Current federal law offers minimal and confusing liability protection for these activities, and the result is that many cities pass over brownfield acquisitions for fear of engendering environmental liability. Those cities that proceed with brownfield acquisitions are rolling the dice in favor of community revitalization but also argue that federal law should be more protective. To rectify these issues, several states have adopted liability reforms that establish a more “causation based” liability scheme for local government acquisitions. A number of groups are advocating for similar reforms at the federal level. Acquisition of contaminated land by public entities is also often complicated by the complexities involved in eminent domain. First, if the acquiring agency lacks the authority to gain access to the site and cannot perform a site assessment prior to taking possession, fiscal concerns are heightened because cleanup costs will not be taken into account in determining fair market value. Secondly, the acquiring agency may not be allowed to deduct cleanup costs from fair market value, so the locality will, in effect, pay twice for cleanup costs. This article explores the statutory issues related to public agency acquisitions, focusing particularly on state reforms and exploring whether particular state liability reforms might serve as a model for a federal liability reform.

Environmental Practice 11:311–319 (2009)

For climate stabilization, the United States (US) will need to cut its transportation carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 60%–80% by 2050. As we cannot accomplish this reduction through vehicle and fuel technology alone, the environmental and transportation communities are focusing on strategies to reduce growth in vehicle miles traveled (VMT), reversing recent trends. The majority of recent VMT growth is due, not to population growth, but to the effects of urban environment, such as increased auto ownership, longer trips, and driving alone. The US Department of Energy forecasts that driving will continue to increase at almost threefold the growth in population. Even under the most stringent vehicle and fuel standards, transportation-related CO2 emissions will be 40% above the target level. In response, climate-change legislation has been passed in California and is pending in other states and in the US Congress that places strict new requirements on mandated environmental impact documentation. One limitation on compliance has been the lack of a unified set of scientific information on the underlying relationships between development form and VMT generation. This article distills and reconciles various forms of prior research on the subject, producing a unified quantitative understanding of the mechanisms that relate urban development forms with VMT and CO2. The findings will help improve the insightfulness and accuracy of the next generation of environmental documents. The article provides results of research and planning studies from throughout the US that indicate the degree to which developments with higher densities, mix of uses, accessible destinations, and interconnected streets reduce vehicle trips and VMT. Sources include regional blueprint studies, as well as project-specific studies such as Atlanta's Atlantic Station development, whose predicted trip reduction was found to be so compelling that the development was deemed a transportation control measure and air quality benefit by the Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Highway Administration. The article identifies the emerging practices in transportation impact analysis for assessing the degree to which the characteristics of development can reduce VMT and carbon impacts. It presents the empirical evidence of how vehicle travel is affected by density, diversity, walkability, regional accessibility, and distance from transit. It also reviews tools that transportation planners and analysts have available to capture these effects, including simple elasticities and new trip generation rates under consideration by the Institute of Transportation Engineers.

Environmental Practice 11:196–208 (2009)

In 2008, the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation funded the Northern West Virginia (WV) Brownfields Assistance Center (i.e., the Center) to create a mini-grant program that encourages brownfield redevelopment in West Virginia. The Center's Foundation for Overcoming Challenges and Utilizing Strengths (FOCUS) WV Brownfields program enables communities to cultivate and implement a redevelopment vision for brownfield properties of strategic community interest. This article describes the FOCUS WV Brownfields program and provides examples of three projects that demonstrate creative and collaborative means toward brownfield redevelopment in West Virginia.