The paucity of state programs to provide insurance for brownfield development is discussed in a recent EPA-funded report. According to the report, states may decide against developing brownfield insurance to protect developers because of doubts about its benefits or the absence of qualified individuals to build and run a program. The report describes several "model" insurance programs to illustrate how programs may be structured and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Currently, only Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New York, and Connecticut have state brownfield insurance programs. According to the report, the other 46 states are actively investigating development of programs, have put their investigations on hold, or have decided against start-up.

According to the report, there are four possible reasons for the absence of a state brownfield insurance program:

• Difficulty in assessing the value of a program in relation to other types of brownfield support such as grants, low-interest loans, tax credits, and subsidies for site assessments,
• Failure to reach a consensus about the structure a program should have,
• Not having the right people with backgrounds in environmental protection, economic development, and insurance, and
• Doubt about how to organize an investigation into the pros and cons of a state program.

The report offers the following advice to states investigating the potential for a state brownfield insurance program:

• Form a small group of experts who are willing to commit time to examining the advantages and disadvantages of state program models.
• Select one or more program models that are most appropriate to state needs.
• Hold discussions with insurers to determine the feasibility of implementing the model(s).
• Present the revised the model(s) to a broader audience of people who might play a role in determining legislative support for the program.
• If the decision to continue is made, issue an RFQ for a broker.

State Brownfield Insurance Programs, 2006, prepared by Northern Kentucky University, is available at http://www.blr.com/keyword. Type in em681brownfield when prompted.

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