[CPEO-BIF] How frequently should the National Brownfields Conference take place?

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Late last week we circulated a request from U.S. EPA's Office of
Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment  for feedback on the frequency of
the thus-far annual national Brownfields conference. See 
http://www.cpeo.org/lists/brownfields/2005/msg00218.html

Since a large share of the people on this list participate in those
annual events, I think it would be useful to discuss the question
publicly via this forum. How frequently should the National Brownfields
meeting take place/ Does it meet your needs? Is the continuously growing
attendance a "market" indicator of continuing value?

Please send a reply e-mail to this list.

It appears that at least one of the sources of this discussion is a June
7, 2005 report from U.S. EPA's office of Inspector General: "EPA Can
Better Manage Brownfields Administrative Resources," Report
No.2005-P-00017. The full report may be downloaded from
http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2005/20050607-2005-P-00017.pdf.

I am excerpting a portion of the Inspector Generals' office findings
below, but there is more in the report, both in Chapter 4 and Appendix A.

Lenny

*********

EPA Could Reduce the Frequency of the Annual Brownfields Conference and
Other Conference Attendance

EPA could potentially save $2.7 million every 2 years by holding the
Brownfields conference only every other year. OBCR [Office of
Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment] budgeted $2.6 million in FY 2003
and $2.7 million in FY 2004 in contracts for the annual Brownfields conference.

The annual Brownfields conference, as well as other conferences and
meetings, addresses one of the four primary goals of the Brownfields
program. The four main goals that EPA Brownfields program provides
financial and technical assistance for are:

* Protecting the environment by addressing Brownfields to ensure the
health and well-being of America's people and environment;

* Promoting partnerships by enhancing collaboration and communication
essential to facilitate Brownfields cleanup and reuse;

* Strengthening the marketplace by providing financial and technical
assistance to bolster the private market; and

* Sustaining reuse by redeveloping Brownfields to enhance a community's
long-term quality of life.

We believe the Brownfields conference primarily meets the second goal.
EPA co-sponsors the annual Brownfields conference and described the 2004
conference as a leading educational and networking event, focused
entirely on Brownfields. The final evaluation report on the Brownfields
2003 conference identified that "by most accounts the conference was a
success and participants found the various events, educational
opportunities, and networking to be beneficial." This report also stated
that past attendees mentioned "networking" in some form as one of the
greatest benefits to the conference.
-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
_______________________________________________
Brownfields mailing list
Brownfields@list.cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org/mailman/listinfo/brownfields