Brownfields Buzz

Your hub for brownfields spotlights, tools, events, news, and more!

January 2026

A snapshot of the technical assistance work completed in EPA Regions 5–8 and beyond in 2025:

• 365 communities received free, one-on-one technical assistance to support brownfields assessment, cleanup, planning, and redevelopment.

• 134 educational events were held, including workshops, webinars, invited presentations, and conference sessions connecting communities with practical guidance, funding strategies, and peer learning opportunities.

• More than 50% of assisted communities had populations under 100,000, with many serving small, rural, Tribal, or environmentally impacted populations.

• 1,500+ community and Tribal site inventories are set up and managed through the Brownfields Inventory Tool (BiT), supported by an improved interface and mobile app.

• TAB EZ was re-created for the FY26 MAC application period. In the past, up to 20–30% of EPA Brownfields MARC grant applications were developed with support from the TAB EZ Grant Writing Tool; roughly 40% of applicants viewed and downloaded KSU TAB’s "Helpful Hints" documents.

Reimagining Armourdale: Student-Led

Designs for a Stronger Community

Photomontage by Rylie Vardiman.

Armourdale residents live in conditions that disproportionately affect health, mobility, and quality of life—but they also present opportunities for creative, place-based solutions.

Residents in the Armourdale neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas, face a combination of environmental and infrastructural disadvantages, including limited green space, stormwater management challenges, industrial land use conflicts, and gaps in safe, connected pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. Formerly an independent municipality, the neighborhood is tied to a legacy of flooding, disinvestment, and separation from the Kansas City metro area, disproportionately affecting residents’ health, mobility, and quality of life.

In the fall of 2025, a group of students from K-State’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional & Community Planning (LARCP) collaborated with KSU TAB and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, to develop visionary concepts for the future of the Armourdale neighborhood. Guided by K-State professor Susmita Rishi, the students listened to community members’ concerns and toured the mixed residential and industrial landscape to better understand residents’ experiences and local redevelopment challenges, helping to inform their projects.

One of the student-developed proposals, “Greening Armourdale: Creating a Better Environment,” imagines how strategic investments in green infrastructure could strengthen both ecological and social connections in the neighborhood. The proposal explores enhancements to existing parks, the creation of green alleys and pocket parks, expanded trail connections, and native planting initiatives that support stormwater management, pollinator habitat, and urban cooling. 



Through detailed photomontages and visual storytelling, the StoryMap illustrates how environmental improvements can do more than beautify space—they can reconnect residents to each other, to the Kansas City metro area, and to broader ecological systems and watersheds. For Armourdale residents, these ideas point toward a future with safer streets, healthier environments, and more accessible public spaces. For students, the project demonstrates how research, innovation, and creative design can serve as a bridge between technical planning and lived community experience.



Together, the LARCP–KSU TAB partnership continues to show how academic collaboration can support communities by generating actionable ideas, visual resources, and long-term thinking that complements on-the-ground technical assistance and local leadership.

Toolbox

Help Improve Our E-Tools: TAB EZ

Feedback Survey

KSU TAB welcomes your feedback on TAB EZ and our other E-Tools. Your input helps us understand what’s working and identify opportunities for improvement. Take the short survey by February 20, 2026.

Does Your Redevelopment Project Offer a Strong Return on Public Investment?

The Community Benefits Calculator (CBC) helps communities evaluate whether a redevelopment project offers a strong return on investment by:

• Estimating a project’s net financial cost or gain
• Providing a high-level risk assessment
• Gauging how well a project aligns with community goals.

Results can help guide public discussions, inform funding decisions, and highlight benefits such as job creation, private investment, and increased property values.

If you need a redevelopment project snapshot that provides key metrics like costs, revenues, estimated number of jobs created, and benefit and risk scores, download the Community Benefits Calculator to get started!

Register for our E-Tools Webinar

Join us for a webinar highlighting KSU TAB’s suite of free E-Tools, designed to support planning, grant writing, and redevelopment decision-making:

• BiT – A brownfields inventory and environmental program management database with mapping and activity tracking
• TAB EZ – An EPA Brownfields MARC Grant assistance tool that helps streamline the grant-writing process
• Community Benefits Calculator – A financial evaluation tool to explore public investment and redevelopment impacts

This session will walk through how these tools can be used to support brownfields reuse efforts in your community.

8 Active Transportation Academy Scholarships Remaining for 2026 — Apply Today!

KSU TAB is partnering with LaneShift again in 2026 to offer scholarships for their Active Transportation Academy (ATA)—a four-day, on-site, immersive experience designed to help professionals bring active transportation initiatives to their communities. Each scholarship covers $2,850 in program costs, with just eight spots remaining for 2026.

During the academy, TAB staff meet with participants, share information on brownfields redevelopment, and highlight the intersection between brownfields and active transportation networks.

• Whether you are a city staffer, planner, advocate, or elected official, you’ll gain knowledge that will help you utilize bikes to strengthen your community.
• The academies occur twice a year in the fall and spring. Those interested in attending may apply for a TAB scholarship by visiting Laneshift’s Academy webpage.

Scholarship Details:

KSU TAB will offer up to 15 scholarships for the 2026 Active Transportation Academies.

Scholarship covers:

• Meals, snacks, drinks
• Bike + helmet rental
• Ground transportation during the academy
• Single-occupancy accommodations at Trailhead Mews (Bentonville, AR)
• All course materials, facilitation, and supplies
• Branded backpack, water bottle, and notebook

Note: Transportation to and from Bentonville is at the participant’s expense.

Learn more on Laneshift's website or check out the most recent ATA recap video to see what your ATA experience could look like.

Share Your Redevelopment Successes

Do you have a redevelopment milestone or brownfields success story to share?

We want to share your challenges, successes, and stories to inspire other communities.

Please email Hayley Veilleux if you have a milestone you want to share with the brownfields community.

Follow your KSU TAB Team on LinkedIn and Facebook!

Visit our website at www.ksutab.org.