Brownfields are literally "deadzones" within cities by contributing nothing to the economic vitality of a city and adding to the decline of the surrounding neighborhood, thereby creating a distressed area. According to our three EPA - sponsored studies entitled Recycling America's Land: A National Report on Brownfields Redevelopment, Volumes I, II and III. The four most important potential benefits to brownfield redevelopment are tax base growth, job creation, neighborhood revitalization and environmental protection.

Due to the detrimental effects of brownfields on neighborhoods, communities, environment; the pervasiveness of the problem throughout the United States and the tremendous potential that the redevelopment can offer, the leadership of the Conference of Mayors has made the redevelopment of brownfields a top priority. In fact, our past President, former Mayor Paul Helmke of Fort Wayne, made the redevelopment of brownfields his top priority during his tenure as President of the Conference of Mayors. Our current President, Denver Mayor Wellington Webb has continued to emphasize the need for the appropriate tools to be created for both businesses and local governments to redevelop brownfield sites.

In addition to economic development, the Mayors see the redevelopment of brownfields as one of the solutions to combat urban sprawl. In a speech during the Kansas City Brownfields Meeting, Mayor Helmke stated, "Brownfields redevelopment incorporates one of the nation's most pressing environmental concerns: the loss of open space-farmlands and forests-brought about by our continuing patterns of urbanization." He went on to say, "We recycle glass, paper and aluminum cans, but as a nation, we don't fully recycle our land this pattern of throwing away our land must change of we are to create more livable communities." Past Accomplishments

Through a cooperative agreement that EPA granted to the Conference of Mayors in 1996, the Conference has pushed forward on a multitude of fronts to encourage the redevelopment of brownfields and the creation of additional tools for local governments and businesses. Some of our accomplishments include to the following:

• The Conference of Mayors has established a National Database on Brownfields redevelopment that is available to local governments and other interested parties.
• Three nationally distributed reports have been written on the status of brownfields in the United States.
• A partnership has been formed with the Federal Home Loan Bank System and Federal Housing Finance Board where we have established a 49 city pilot program to match local governments and financial institutions together in the hopes of educating banks on brownfields transactions as well as giving cities and businesses another option as they explore financing brownfield redevelopment deals.
• Research symposiums have been held with businesses; financial institutions and other interested parties on the impediments of redeveloping brownfields.
• Resource books have been created to educate financial institutions and businesses on the tools available to redevelop brownfields.
• Mayors have contributed to the "Best Practices" book on how they were able to redevelop their brownfields sites in the hopes of providing tools to other local governments.
• A partnership has been established with American Farmland Trust on the formation of an urban/rural coalition working together to encourage the redevelopment of brownfields and the preservation of farmland and other open spaces.

Purpose of the Research
The Conference of Mayors is seeking to continue and expand the work that we have been conducting for the past four years. We have made tremendous strides forward in researching the impediments as well as success stories regarding brownfield redevelopment projects throughout the United States. We will continue gathering data regarding the status of brownfields sites in our nation's cities, educating businesses, financial institutions, and environmental groups regarding brownfields and securing their participation in developing solutions to solve this multifaceted problem.