Healthy Development Measurement Toolkit

Indicator ES.3.a Proportion of City land that is unutilized, industrial or contaminated

Data Source

Department of Toxic Substances Control, EnviroStor database: http://www.envirostor.dtsc.ca.gov/public/

Table data is presented by planning neighborhood. Detailed information regarding geographic units of analysis, their definitions, and their boundaries can be found in the HDMT at the following links:

http://www.thehdmt.org/etc/Geographic_Units_of_Analysis.September_2009.pdf

Explanation and Limitations

Contaminated sites in the City and County of San Francisco include: 1. Sites impacted by leaking underground storage tanks (LOP) 2. Sites being developed in areas of known historical landfill (Maher Program) 3. Sites with known contamination that are being mitigated on a voluntary basis (VCP) A land use restricted site is a property where Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has placed limits or requirements on future use of the property due to varying levels of cleanup possible, practical, or necessary at the site. The types of land use restriction include deed notice, deed restriction, or a land use restriction that binds current and future owners. Previously contaminated sites with No Further Action reported as their current status were omitted. This status identifies completed sites where DTSC determined after investigation, that the property does not pose a problem to the public health or the environment. Another category of contaminated sites is brownfields. These sites are real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment. A key characteristic of a brownfield site is that it is targeted for redevelopment. The site is not necessarily contaminated, but it is not assumed to be "clean" because of its prior commercial or industrial use. In recent years, some federal agencies and most States have initiated brownfields programs, often to foster economic revitalization. One example at the Federal level is the EPA's brownfields program. At the state level, Cal/EPA is active in developing successful brownfields programs that incorporate tools that can be used to assist in or address the three primary concerns of potential developers: legal liability, regulatory compliance, and the financial burden of investigation and cleanup. Cal/EPA, and its constituent boards and departments, are developing partnerships with local governmental agencies and actively developing tools and resources that can be used separately and in concert to encourage capital investment in sites to return them to productive use.

Cal/EPA recently came out with a product which provides a visual depiction of the brownfields assessment, cleanup, and sustainable redevelopment. The product includes seven essential steps connected to cleaning brownfields sites most efficiently which include bringing together the public, private, and non-profit sectors; involving the community; identifying and assessing sites; planning for property reuse; cleaning sites and providing for long-term stewardship; beautifying brownfields; and minimizing environmental and public health impacts. To compliment these seven steps, elements to increasing sustainable development and improving public health are also included. The elements include planning shared or complete streets; creating new green space; designing storm water management; using green materials; providing access to transit; integrating mixed uses; and planting native plants and trees. Download the guide here.

San Francisco Department of Public Health, Maher Ordinance requires soil analysis for a specified list of inorganic and organic chemicals at construction sites where: 1) at least 50 cubic yards of soil are disturbed; 2) there is construction on the Bay side of the historic high-tide line; or 3) there is reason to believe that hazardous waste may be present. If the soil sample and analysis report indicates there is hazardous waste present, the applicant is required to create a site mitigation report and complete all site mitigation measures to ensure all significant environmental and health risk caused by the hazardous waste are mitigated. This ordinance ensures the minimum and benchmark are met.

Why is this a Community Health Indicator?

Opportunities for prevention and public health planning must begin with improved environmental health surveillance to track historic hazards in the environment, population exposures to chemical and physical hazards, and priority health conditions in the population. As part of its mission to protect the environment and human health, the United States Environmental Protection Agency is undertaking an important initiative to revitalize land by restoring contaminated, and potentially contaminated, sites to productive economic and greenspace use. The revitalization initiative seeks to resolve barriers to reuse and promote the reuse of sites that are being or have been cleaned up. A major objective of the revitalization initiative is to instill at EPA a culture of reuse of our precious resources. To this end, EPA is working to ensure that cleanup remedies take into account a property's anticipated future use.