RE-POWERING
AMERICA'S LAND
INITIATIVE:
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
MARCH 2021
Office of Communications, Partnerships and Analysis
Office of Land and Emergency Management
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RE-POWERING AMERICA'S LAND INITIATIVE: PROGRAM OVERVIEW
MARCH 2021
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:
GOAL 1: PROVIDE TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC ASSISTANCE
• Objective 1: Enhance and Disseminate Tools
• Objective 2: Expedite Projects
GOAL 2: PROMOTE POLICIES AND BEST PRACTICES THAT
ENCOURAGE RENEWABLE ENERGY ON CONTAMINATED LANDS
• Objective 3: Highlight and Analyze Programs and Policies at the
Federal, State, Local and Tribal Level
• Objective 4: Identify Successful Strategies, Articulate Impacts
and Disseminate Lessons Learned
GOAL 3: PARTNER WITH STAKEHOLDERS AND LEVERAGE
AGENCY EFFORTS
• Objective 5: Strengthen Networks and Facilitate Collaboration
among Stakeholders
• Objective 6: Leverage Funding and Build Capacity
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EPA's RE-Powering America's Land Initiative encourages renewable energy
development on current and formerly contaminated lands, landfills, and mine sites
when such development is aligned with the community's vision for the site.
The RE-Powering Initiative encourages new markets for underutilized land. Through
the reuse of these sites, communities can transform liabilities into assets, providing
land resources for clean energy development and diminishing development
pressures on open space.
The Office of Land and Emergency Management, Office of Communications,
Partnerships and Analysis leads this initiative. The Initiative has multiple
partnerships, including with Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy
Lab (NREL). Since the RE-Powering Initiative's inception, hundreds of renewable
energy installations on contaminated lands, landfills and mine sites have been
established.
The Initiative tracks 417 installations in 45 states and territories, representing a
combined 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of capacity.1 These projects provide numerous
benefits to their communities. Publicly available, stakeholder-reported information
indicates that communities have saved millions of dollars in energy costs, created
construction jobs, and received new property tax revenue as a result of reusing
these sites for renewable energy.
For example, French's Landfill, a Superfund site located
in BrickTownship, New Jersey, is now home to a
6.5 MW solar installation that is expected to save the
township approximately $13 million in energy costs over
15 years, and the Greenfield Solar Farm, a 2.0 MW solar
array built on a landfill in Greenfield, Massachusetts, created
approximately 50 local construction jobs and saved the town
$250,000 in its first year of operation.
1 This information is current as of October 2020; see RE-Powerina Tracking Matrix for more information.
Office of Communications, Partnerships,and Analysis Office of Land and Emergency Managemen t
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RE-POWERING AMERICA'S LAND INITIATIVE: PROGRAM OVERVIEW
MARCH 2021
What is EPA doing to facilitate renewable energy development on contaminated lands, landfills and mine sites?
RE-Powering supports cleanup redevelopment of contaminated properties for renewable energy projects. Remediating contaminated sites and determining their reuse result
from the efforts of a diverse set of stakeholders including site owners and operators, consultants, communities, developers, states, tribes, local government, and the financial
community. The goals and objectives of EPA's RE-Powering Initiative are a result of feedback received from numerous meetings and listening sessions in which stakeholders
asked for tools, enhanced outreach, guidance, and technical assistance. Working in collaboration with the NREL, the RE-Powering Initiative has propelled renewable energy
development on contaminated lands from merely an interesting idea to an ever-increasing portfolio of projects.
Accomplishment Highlights
• Created a mapping tool
with over 100,000 potentially
contaminated land sites
across the U.S., including state
environmental programs, these
sites account for more than 44
million acres. This tools helps
stakeholders to identify sites with
renewable energy potential;
• Released a best practices
document for the installation of
solar photovoltaics on landfills in
partnership with NREL;
• Shared success stories
highlighting examples of how
sites are being reused in RE-
Powering presentations;
• Analyzed trends and reported
annually on completed projects
and their benefits; and
• Developed on-demand training
modules to educate the public
and interested stakeholders.
417 Renewable Energy Projects with Over 1.8 Gigawatt Installed Capacity
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Office of Communications, Partnerships and Analysis Office of Land and Emergency Management I 3
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RE-POWERING AMERICA'S LAND INITIATIVE: PROGRAM OVERVIEW
MARCH 2021
What benefits are associated with RE-Powering projects?
Cffsselman Wind Power Project in Pennsylvania. Indian Valley Wood Products in 0^entMllsr
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RE-POWERING AMERICA'S LAND INITIATIVE: PROGRAM OVERVIEW
MARCH 2021
The RE-Powering Initiative's activities are visible within the
efforts of an increasingly diverse group of stakeholders.
Examples include:
An emerging state mapping tool for Brightfields
in Colorado
State interest in representation of their sites in
EPA's mapping tool
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Minnesota State Environmental Quality Board Study:
Feasibility of Solar Development on State-Managed Closed
Landfills - 2020
Hosted multiple webinars recently that attracted
for example: renewable energy developers and local
government representatives
Moving forward: what is RE-Powering America's Land
doing to help communities?
RE-Powering is wei! positioned to work with communities impacted by
environmental justice and climate change. For example, a 200-kilowatt solar project
on a former landfill in Norwood, Colorado is part of the local utility's effort to make
renewable energy available to more of its members at a reasonable cost
By developing, enhancing and disseminating tools.
By sharing best practices, resources and highlighting success, such as state policies.
Fostering partnerships and technical assistance.
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Offlceof Communications,fiartnecships and Analysis Office, of Land and Emergency Management
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