| Selection and design of cleanup considered the site's vulnerabilities to extreme weather events and natural disasters | Vulnerability describes the degree to which natural, built, and human systems are at risk of exposure to impacts from extreme weather events and natural disasters. |
| Reduce energy use | Practices to reduce energy use may include limiting or eliminating idling of heavy equipment; maximizing use of machinery with advanced energy saving controls; use of cleaner fuels to power machinery and auxiliary equipment; onsite carbon sequestration (e.g., soil amendments, revegetation); reducing fuel consumption to save energy; and maximizing use of renewable energy. |
| Reduce waste and manage materials sustainably | Practices to reduce water and manage materials sustainably may include minimizing consumption of virgin materials; minimizing waste generation; use of recycled products and local materials; beneficially reusing waste materials (e.g. concrete made with coal combustion products replacing a portion of cement); and segregating and reusing or recycling materials, products, and infrastructure (e.g. soil, construction and demolition debris, buildings). |
| Reduce water use and impacts to water sources | Practices to reduce water use and impacts to water sources may include minimizing water use and depletion of natural water resources; capturing, reclaiming, and storing water for reuse (e.g., recharge aquifer, drinking water irrigation); minimizing water demand for revegetation (e.g., native species); and employing stormwater best management practice (e.g., installing and maintaining silt fences and basins to capture sediment runoff along sloped areas; use of gravel roads, porous pavement, and separated permeable surfaces to maximize infiltration of rainwater into the soil). |
| Sustainable land management practices | Sustainable land management practices capitalize on a "whole-site" approach that accelerates cleanup while returning a site to its natural conditions. Practices focus on opportunities to preserve natural land features, maintain open space, sequester carbon, enhance biodiversity, increase wildlife habitat, and minimize surface and subsurface disturbance. Sustainable land management practices at a brownfields site may include minimizing unnecessary soil and habitat disturbance or destruction; use of native species to support habitat; and onsite remediation approaches such as bioremediation and/or phytoremediation. |