The City of El Paso Brownfields Redevelopment Program was established to champion the redevelopment of underutilized properties complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. The goal of the program is to improve the City’s economy, public health, and the environment through brownfield redevelopment. In addition, the program aims to assist eligible property owners, investors, developers, and neighborhoods in the redevelopment of brownfield sites.

What is a Brownfield?
A brownfield is a property on which expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence, or perceived presence, of contamination.

For more information on the City of El Paso Brownfield Program, contact John Garza at 915-621-6835.

Brownfields Redevelopment Assistance
The City of El Paso was awarded two assessment grants totaling $400,000 to support cleanup activities at sites containing petroleum products and hazardous substances. The grant funding is expected to help bolster redevelopment, cleanup of the environment, and preservation of greenspace.

Eligibility requirements for brownfields assistance are summarized in the Eligibility Information Sheet (Download Eligibility Information Sheet). Based on the property’s former use and potential contamination, many sites are eligible for assistance, except where the applicant is potentially liable for the contamination.

To apply for assistance, complete the following forms:
Download Application for Assistance
Download Participation Agreement
Download Access Agreement

Issues of Liability The brownfields program provides liability protection for innocent public and private parties interested in redeveloping brownfields. We also recommend you become a participant in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP) (Download Voluntary Cleanup Program Flyer). Through the VCP your project becomes more marketable for redevelopment. Liability is removed through a Certificate of Completion, which releases future owners, lenders and other non-responsible parties for past environmental problems. Additional information on the VCP can be found on the TCEQ website at www.tceq.state.tx.us/remediation/vcp/vcp.html.
El Paso Brownfield Success Stories The administrative offices of the El Paso City-County Health and Environmental District is located at the site of two former brownfields. The property at 5115 El Paso Drive was an abandoned plastics injection molding plant, and the adjacent property at 5169 El Paso Drive was an abandoned industrial-use building that had been used to mix chemical solvents for the garment industry which were then used to stone-wash jeans. Brownfields assessment dollars were used to perform Phase 1 and 2 Environmental Site Assessments on these properties. In addition, the City participated in the TCEQ VCP as part of the remediation activities.

Former Use

Current Use


Assessment dollars were also used to conduct a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment on the former International Hotel. No contamination concerns were identified. The site will be redeveloped as a Doubletree Hotel.

Brownfields Redevelopment Symposium
On September 6, 2007, the City of El Paso - Environmental Services hosted a symposium to provide information on the Brownfields Redevelopment Program. (Download presentation material)

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