The RPP has taken steps to meet with key industry sectors most interested in growth—developers, economists and business leaders. Their goal is "to learn how to harness those economic engines so we can deliver the environmental outcomes as well as the economic outcomes," explains Brake. "New Jersey's smart-growth programs aren't paying attention to the fragility of the economy."

The group hopes to connect their project with the governor's platform to grow the state's economy out of the current budget deficit. "We need to look seriously at what our capacity is for growth," Brake says. "Let's make smart choices."

But RPP claims that, as the state approaches build-out, it will need to redirect growth to deal with issues of housing, congestion, racial and economic integration and the state's fiscal and natural resources. "We can change the landscape for the better through growth, and we can't do it just through preservation," Brake adds.

Barry I. Skoultchi, president of the Whitman Cos., an East Brunswick-based environmental consulting firm, observes that when you put all the environmental pieces together—smart growth, build-out and preservation through the Highlands Act—it highlights the importance of brownfields redevelopment. "Developers are focusing on those properties because there is nowhere else to turn," he says.

With fewer open spaces to develop, converting brownfields into productive uses has become the last frontier for developers. The New Jersey DEP estimates that there are approximately 10,000 potential brownfield sites in the state, a number that is constantly changing as sites are discovered and remediated. Last year, more than 4,000 sites received a No Further Action designation, indicating that remediation had been completed. It was the highest number recorded in a single year by the Site Remediation & Waste Management Program.

So far, the success the state has had with brownfield remediation and reuse has resulted from a combination of financial aid, release from liability and strong marketing campaigns. "The state has done a tremendous job," says Skoultchi.

And although working with the DEP is never referred to as easy, the department's Office of Brownfield Reuse earns kudos from developers for expediting the remediation process. "They don't bend the rules," explains Skoultchi, "but they do expedite the reviews. In a redevelopment, time is very important."

To that extent, the Office of Brownfield Reuse coordinates projects by dedicating a case manager to direct technical and financial assistance to sites within a designated area. Last summer, for example, the Whitman Cos. got eight properties in the Great Falls Historic District in Paterson designated as a Brownfield Development Area by the NJDEP.

While NJDEP appears to be doing a good job of maintaining consistency in its reviews, it's also dealing with a lot more remediation issues than in the past. "The environmental business is ever-changing—it's a moving target," Skoultchi says. "There are additional concerns that DEP has begun to focus on today compared with 10 years ago. For example, indoor air quality is now an issue, and 10 years ago is wasn't."

The state also gets high marks from developers for implementing liability protections and financial-incentive programs that facilitate brownfield redevelopment. "There are more tools available today to make these deals happen than a couple of years ago," Skoultchi says.

In the case of liability, if a brownfield developer didn't cause or contribute to the contamination of a property, he is termed an innocent purchaser and technically not liable. In addition, there's the financial reimbursement and assortment of low-interest loans made available to redevelopers.

Insurers are also guaranteeing remediation, adding another layer of certainty and protection to the process. Howard Geneslaw, director with the Real Property and Environmental Department of Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, PC in Newark adds that, "the availability of that insurance makes it an easier decision for a developer to proceed with a brownfield site. They can better quantify costs in a way that they were previously unable to."

"Insurance can be very difficult to get on heavily contaminated sites and sometimes it's very, very expensive relative to the overall economics of the project," warns Edward Russo, president and COO of Russo Development in Hackensack. "For industrial redevelopment, sometimes environmental insurance for clean-up costs are prohibitive. In some cases it's economically feasible but it depends on how comfortable the insurance company feels with the information available on the site.

"If there is an enormous amount of data available on the condition of the soil and the groundwater, the insurance company will come up with a realistic estimate of what it will cost to remediate and you're more likely to get a policy and at a reasonable price," he says.

"The changes in the laws the past two years have created more incentives for developers to buy brownfield sites and remediate them," adds Tom Michnewicz, senior vice president of Advance Realty Group in Bedminster.

What remains a stumbling block for developers is the lengthy and expensive remediation process itself. "I tell most redevelopers looking at a piece of property to plan on five to seven years from the time you purchase the property until you complete development," adds Skoultchi. "Comparatively, a noncontaminated site could take 18 months to two years to get approvals."

Once the environmental issues are resolved and a site gets DEP's No Further Action designation, a developer can comfortably move forward. Says Geneslaw: "The type of use and nature and extent of the remediation go hand-in-hand, meaning that some types of remediation really lend themselves more to certain types of uses. That's why you see different types of clean-up standards promulgated by DEP."

Advance Realty faced a myriad of regulatory and environmental challenges posed by the massive MetroCentre redevelopment in Harrison. The riverfront project sits on a former industrial site where an old steel works made armaments. "As a result, the soil contains some metals, organic compounds and hazardous areas, all of which had to be addressed with the DEP," explains Michnewicz.

Advance assumed a $3-million cleanup on roughly 125 acres, half of the entire redevelopment area. "When we first got on-site, we did some very extensive testing to determine the extent of our challenge," Michnewicz says. After submitting their findings to DEP, they collaborated on a remedial action plan to meet DEP standards. Before taking title, the firm participated in DEP's prospective-purchaser program allowing them to conduct testing without liability, "which we found to be advantageous."

After more than five years of upfront work, MetroCentre is finally getting underway. The timeframe on the remediation was "fairly typical," Michnewicz says. The first phase of Advance's piece of the redevelopment will include 800 residential units, 100,000 sf of retail, 150,000 sf of offices and a 20,000-seat soccer stadium.

When it comes to remediating industrial sites, Russo Development has carved a niche for itself in North Jersey. The firm has built more than one million sf of new construction over the past four years, and half of the sites required some form of remediation. Their current venture is Saw Mill Park, located in the Belleville Turnpike Redevelopment Area and an urban enterprise zone. The 16-acre site is Kearny's first major redevelopment in the designated area.

Before purchasing the site in 2001, Russo spent several months on due diligence in an effort to "make a reasonable estimate on what the final remediation cost would be," explains Russo. The firm was required by DEP to do a thorough site investigation to delineate any contaminated areas as a result of fill that had been dumped over the years. "We found several hot spots that needed to be fully cleaned, and we had to excavate and remove contaminated soils," he says. Remediation was completed by the end of 2002 and construction followed in 2003 on the first of two industrial buildings.

Russo's timeframe on Saw Mill was comparatively quick. "We had a pretty good experience working with DEP on this property," Russo says. "We were fortunate that the groundwater didn't require remediation, or we could have been in remediation for a longer period."

In Ocean County, another remediation scenario is unfolding involving a mixed-use redevelopment in the Pinelands. The land requires environmental remediation, municipal and DEP approvals and threatened and endangered species. The Walters Group's Stafford Park in Stafford Township would encompass 320 acres within a regional growth area. Plans also call for the closure of two leaky landfills costing Walters millions of dollars and up to 18 months of remediation.

"The success of the entire Pinelands program is dependent on the actual development of regional growth areas," explains Joseph DelDuca, partner and general counsel for the Walters Group of Marlton and Barnegat. "Preservation of nearly all of the one million acres in the Pinelands is based on a transfer-of-development-rights program."

Walters is required to buy Pinelands development credits equating to the preservation of roughly 1,700 additional acres. "By buying credits, you're transferring the development rights from a sensitive, preserved area to a regional growth area slated for development," explains DelDuca. "It concentrates development in areas where we do want it, where we can bring in services and infrastructure, and where we can manage it. This is smart growth."

Environmental groups disagree and object to the project. Controversy surrounds the critical habitat of a population of endangered pine snakes—existing wildlife would need to be relocated from the municipal landfill to the surrounding protected state forest. Walters has submitted a threatened-and-endangered-species-management plan and 570 acres of land suitable for pine-snake habitat will be purchased and permanently deed-restricted. The project is still awaiting final approvals.

Stafford Park was initially approved by the Pinelands Commission almost 15 years ago. "In 1991, there were no threatened- and endangered-species issues," adds DelDuca. "The rule is that development isn't allowed if you have irreversible adverse impact on the threatened and endangered population. The question is, is it critical habitat? The Pinelands Commission and DEP have taken a much more stringent view on what is and isn't critical habitat in recent years.

"Just because you have a state policy suggesting you should develop doesn't mean anything. There's still local rule," emphasizes DelDuca. "There are competing authorities and competing agencies that make development difficult for different reasons everywhere. Sometimes it's more difficult to develop in the smart growth areas."

Redevelopment could get even tougher down the road. The greater scrutiny that redevelopment is encountering along with last year's ruling in the Kelo v. City of New London case could have an impact on the ability to redevelop brownfields, according to Geneslaw. "Since the Kelo case came down, which didn't directly affect New Jersey, the courts have been much more careful in scrutinizing municipal actions on redevelopment. For years, when a municipality decided to designate an area as being in need of redevelopment, the courts would almost always uphold whatever the municipality did."

Explains Geneslaw, "in the opinions on Kelo, it was suggested that the redevelopment process can be abused. Kelo has had so much publicity that there's been a greater focus on what eminent domain is and how it works. As a result, there's been greater sensitivity as evidenced not only by court decisions but also by numerous legislation."

Michnewicz agrees: "We're seeing a knee-jerk reaction on the part of state legislatures to Kelo. Obviously, we in the industry are keeping close tabs on legislation. Eminent domain is an important tool for redevelopment purposes. What everyone needs to be looking at is the abuse of eminent domain. That's the real key."

There are no signs pointing to a slowdown in the redevelopment of brownfields, however. As Skoultchi asserts, "the easy projects have been completed. You're now getting to the point where you're dealing with properties that take more patience and work, but there are people taking them on."

Looking at the big picture, we can all learn a lesson from the Hurricane Katrina disaster, explains Brake. "If you wipe out the economy, you can't live there. Up until Katrina, it was never the high ground to promote economic growth from an environmentalist's point of view. It was all about the environment."