An official website of the United States government.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

Menu

Underground Storage Tanks (USTs)

Petroleum Brownfields

Introduction

Brownfield is a term applied to a property where its expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance. A petroleum brownfield is a type of brownfield where the contaminant is petroleum.

Of the estimated 450,000 brownfield sites in the U.S., approximately one-half are thought to be impacted by petroleum, much of it from leaking underground storage tanks (USTs) at old gas stations. These sites blight the surrounding neighborhoods and threaten human health and the environment. Petroleum can contaminate groundwater, the source of drinking water for nearly half of all Americans.

Petroleum brownfields, such as old abandoned gas stations, are being cleaned up and reused to the benefit of communities across the country. EPA’s Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST) and Brownfields Program jointly focus on the cleanup and reuse of petroleum-contaminated sites. The Brownfields Program awards brownfields grants for the assessment and cleanup of petroleum brownfields (e.g., those determined to be relatively low-risk priority).

OUST is responsible for promoting the cleanup of federally-regulated leaking underground storage tank sites (e.g., high risk petroleum release sites). Once a site is cleaned up, it can be reused and provide new businesses, jobs, and tax revenue or other amenities for the community, such as parks and recreation, increased property values, and improved walkability.

History of EPA Petroleum Brownfields

Since its inception in 1995, EPA's Brownfields Program has grown into a results-oriented program that has changed the way contaminated property is perceived, addressed, and managed. Initially, EPA provided small amounts of seed money to local governments that launched hundreds of two-year brownfield pilot projects.

Petroleum-contaminated sites were not eligible for traditional brownfields funding. Through passage of the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act in 2002, brownfields policies that EPA developed over the years were passed into law. A key provision of the law allocates 25 percent of brownfields funding each year to assess, clean up, and ready for reuse relatively low-risk petroleum brownfield sites.

Top of Page