The Brownfields and Land Revitalization Technology Support Center
Provided by the U.S. EPA, Argonne National Laboratory, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Helping Decision-makers

If traditional site assessment and cleanup approaches are too time-consuming and expensive to support the development of your brownfields site, the BTSC may be able to help you.

Direct support is available to:

• State & local governments and tribes
• Brownfields Grantees
• EPA Regional Coordinators
• EPA Remedial Project Managers
• EPA On-Scene Coordinators
• Other EPA Regional staff

Information about site investigation and cleanup activities is available to all brownfields stakeholders, including:

• Real estate professionals, developers, financial institutions, and other private redevelopment interests
• Engineers, consultants, and other private remediation professionals
• Potentially responsible parties
• Affected communities
• Members of the public

See the fact sheet (PDF, 4 pages) for additional information about how the BTSC can help decision-makers.

Learn more about us, our partners, our services, and our accomplishments.

The Brownfields and Land Revitalization Technology Support Center (BTSC, formerly the Brownfields Technology Support Center) is a cooperative effort to provide technical support to federal, state, local, and tribal officials for questions related to the use of innovative technologies and strategies for site assessment and cleanup.

EPA created the BTSC in 1998 to help decision-makers:

• Evaluate strategies to streamline the site investigation and cleanup process
• Identify and review information about complex technology options
• Evaluate contractor capabilities and recommendations
• Explain complex technologies to communities

Partners in the BTSC include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) and Office of Research and Development (ORD); the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and Argonne National Laboratory. As a Center partner, EPA’s Brownfields Program helps to identify support needed by EPA’s Brownfields Program participants.

Overview of Accomplishments
Since its creation in 1998, the BTSC has provided information to hundreds of stakeholders, direct site support to more than 70 sites, and helped increase awareness and use of innovative technologies and techniques for investigation and remediation of contaminated sites. Through direct support, the development of publications and other technology transfer activities, the BTSC is helping to advance the efficient cleanup and redevelopment of sites nationwide.
Learn more about our accomplishments

EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) provides policy, guidance, and direction for the land disposal of hazardous wastes, underground storage tanks, solid waste management, encouragement of innovative technologies, source reduction of wastes, and management of the Superfund Program. OSWER's priorities include the following:

• Land revitalization, and making property reuse an important part of all cleanup activities
• Enhancing counter-terrorism
• Better integrating information
• Reducing waste and recovering energy
• Campaigning against waste
• Workforce development and succession planning

OSWER's goal for revitalization is to broadly promote the lessons learned by the Brownfields program and how revitalization can complement traditional cleanup programs and lead to faster cleanups. Several offices within OSWER are helping EPA achieve this goal.

EPA Office of Research and Development
EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) is the principal scientific research arm of EPA. ORD is organized into three national laboratories and two national centers, and conducts research and fosters the use of science and technology in fulfilling EPA's mission. Technology Support Center services include site-specific assistance in the areas of Superfund, RCRA, and Brownfields; technology transfer activities; technical assistance; development and testing of management techniques; and the development of training courses.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) manages engineering, construction, and real estate programs for various federal agencies. USACE is a partner with EPA and other federal agencies in helping communities prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. USACE has established a network of brownfields specialists throughout the country, and provides assistance through the Hazardous, Toxic and Radioactive Waste Center of Expertise (HTRW); the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Environmental Lab at Waterways Experiment Station (ERDC-WES); and the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL). USACE is also involved in revitalization efforts at BRAC sites and Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS).

USACE provides technical assistance to communities for the assessment and evaluation of sites. USACE expertise enables it to help communities address various challenges related to revitalization, such as:

• Obtain site assessment services and funds
• Develop integrated plans to promote comprehensive community enhancements
• Provide technical solutions for site assessment and restoration issues

Argonne National Laboratory
The Argonne National Laboratory is a multi-disciplinary research and development laboratory focused on basic science, nuclear and non-nuclear energy science and technologies, national security, and environmental matters. In the environmental area, Argonne's activities range from studies of fundamental contaminant behavior to risk management associated with cleanup and site long-term stewardship. Argonne assists several federal agencies with environmental technical support in the areas of characterization, process systems and engineering, and integrated management. Argonne assists the EPA's BTSC in the application of its Triad approach to sampling and analysis to manage site decision uncertainty.

Specific services provided by Argonne include:

• Review of plans for investigations
• Assistance in preparing site assessment plans and strategies
• Assistance in selecting and deploying technologies and methodologies for investigations of soil and groundwater contamination

EPA Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR)
EPA's Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. EPA is funding assessment demonstration pilot programs to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and cleanup revolving loan fund programs to capitalize loan funds for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.

Brownfields stakeholders involved in the selection and use of technologies for environmental cleanup can visit OBLR's website to learn more about the brownfields grant programs that are available. The BTSC works closely with OBLR and can provide direct technical assistance to communities that participate in OBLR's initiatives and grant programs.

The BTSC works in concert with brownfields stakeholders to implement approaches to ensure the design of protective remedies and efficient revitalization projects. BTSC partners bring the knowledge of the latest field-based analytical tools, remedial technologies, decision support tools (DST), and other technologies and first-hand knowledge and experience using these technologies to address complex implementation scenarios. The BTSC functions not only as a technical resource to address questions and issues, but in a broader role to educate and advise stakeholders and practitioners about approaches to more effectively and efficiently cleanup sites.

While the BTSC helps to resolve complex issues and advance the objectives of individual sites, it uses direct technical assistance as a means of technology transfer to affect the larger cleanup community. Not only does the site more efficiently progress from investigation through remediation and reuse, but other outputs are generated that will transfer information, increasing technology acceptance, stakeholder capital, and site manager expertise; and more efficient and protective remedies across the programs.

Since its creation, the BTSC has:

• Responded to nearly 200 requests for information and site technical support in 30 states, from NJ to CA
• Provided direct site support to nearly 80 sites
• Developed numerous case studies, site reports, tools and templates for site managers and other decision makers
• Created technology bulletins, primers, and other publications such as the Brownfields Road Map that have become valuable resources
• Developed outreach for a diverse group of stakeholders ranging from affected communities to engineers and scientists
• Helped to train and educate hundreds of stakeholders
• Worked with towns, cities, states, EPA regions, and Tribes in developing cleanup solutions
• Assisted with SAPs, QAPPs, CSMs, and a host of technical planning materials to develop approaches to remediating a variety of contaminants and media from metals in soils to VOC vapor intrusion concerns
• Provided recommendations and comments to improve work plans and action plans at various site types from urban industrial facilities to rural mining sites
• Advocated the use of cutting edge technologies and techniques
• Advanced the state of the practice technologies and techniques to build capacity for the timely and cost effective cleanup and reuse of Brownfields sites