Grannis: New Brownfield Law Needed ASAP

• by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

ALBANY, NY (06/09/2008)(readMedia)-- Abandoned industrial sites could return to useful life across New York if the brownfields program is overhauled, state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis said today.

Joined by a wide array of environmental and community-development groups, Commissioner Grannis said there is a short window for state action. That’s because a moratorium on the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) is slated to expire in less than a month and without action the program could fall into legal limbo. The legislative session is slated to end June 23. The commissioner said the program needs to be revamped to make sure it meets its intended purposes.

“So far, not enough cleanup money has found its way into the urban core of our cities – where thousands of brownfield sites perpetuate blight, create public health risks and discourage needed investment,” Grannis said. “We must reform the brownfield cleanup program to make it smarter, more effective and more accountable to taxpayers. Governor Paterson’s brownfields bill would do just that. This is an issue that is crucial to our downstate urban areas and upstate cities. The program needs to be overhauled. The sooner, the better.”

Grannis noted that Governor David A. Paterson has proposed a brownfield package that offers a more sophisticated approach to providing tax credits to owners and developers that want to nominate a parcel for the BCP. It offers substantially bigger tax credits for achieving better cleanups (up to 75 percent in some cases), generous tax credits for development costs and bonuses for building green. It would allow virtually every site into the program -- eliminating the eligibility issue that has tangled up the current law in court, triggering the moratorium. Legislative action could also help improve the Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) program, which provides planning aid for communities. (The BCP works with private parties; BOA with local governments.)

“Scenic Hudson commends the Governor and Commissioner Grannis for their leadership in actively seeking reform of the brownfields program during this legislative session,” said Ned Sullivan, Executive Director of Scenic Hudson. “We urge legislative leaders to meet with the Governor and his team and resolve this top priority issue in order to promote a greater number of high quality cleanups, reward sound development, smart growth and urban revitalization, and apply limited public resources to a greater effect.”

“Fixing the state’s brownfield law before the legislative session ends should be the top priority for the legislative session. We are pleased to stand here today with Commissioner Grannis, who is taking a leading role in finding ways to make New York’s brownfield programs work to clean up the most contaminated sites,” said Mathy Stanislaus, Co-Director of New Partners for Community Revitalization. “The solutions are clear and the time is at hand. We believe that fixing the Brownfield Opportunity Area program and the Brownfield Cleanup Program in the next few weeks will unlock the door to rapid progress in eliminating community health hazards that harm our families and children and stimulating economic development in urban neighborhoods and upstate communities, as the law originally intended.”

“New York State’s failing 2003 brownfield law requires urgent and immediate resolution this legislative session,” stated Norreida Reyes, Conservation Director of the Sierra Club’s Atlantic Chapter. “There is no question that, in this economy, it is both fiscally and environmentally prudent to restructure brownfield tax credits to provide significant incentives for developers to clean up soil to unrestricted or residential use levels, and to reward the most aggressive level of groundwater cleanup possible, without giving away hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars for sites in no need of financial assistance from the state’s limited coffers. We commend the Governor’s leadership in providing a framework for meaningful brownfield law reform.”

“We commend Governor Paterson and Commissioner Grannis for their efforts to restructure the Brownfield Cleanup Program to ensure that our limited public funds are targeted more effectively to encourage better cleanups and help revitalize communities that are most in need,” said Laura Haight, NYPIRG's Senior Environmental Associate. “Under the current program, some developers are reaping massive windfalls for projects that would likely have proceeded without state subsidies. This is neither economically nor environmentally sustainable.”

“Reforming New York’s dysfunctional brownfield law should be a top priority for the Legislature this session. The existing law is preventing both environmental remediation and economic growth in blighted areas throughout the state. We urge the Legislature to take swift action and approve a brownfield bill this session,” said Joshua Nachowitz, State Policy Director of the League of Conservation Voters.

“New York State is wasting precious taxpayer dollars to clean-up brownfields in prosperous real estate markets that don't need the added incentive of millions in tax credits to attract developers,” said Rob Moore, Executive Director, Environmental Advocates of New York. “Given the projected out-year state budget deficits ahead of us, let's fix the Brownfield Cleanup Program now and stop shortchanging New Yorkers.”

“It is critical for the state's fiscal condition and environment that the Governor, the Assembly and the Senate come together on a package of reforms to the brownfields law that will transform it into a truly effective tool for urban cleanup and redevelopment as originally envisioned,” said James Tripp, General Counsel of the Environmental Defense Fund. “That package must include better targeted tax credits and BOA incentives. We applaud the Governor for initiating this dialogue with his program bill and look forward to fruitful negotiations between the Governor, the Assembly and Senate.”

“The DEC is moving in the right direction in its effort to reform New York's brownfield cleanup procedures,” said Richard Schrader, the New York Legislative Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “We support their plan to expand community participation and accelerate the number of successful remediation projects.”

“We urge the Legislature to act on brownfields in this session to ensure that money is spent wisely to clean up many contaminated sites rather than provide windfall benefits to just a few development projects,” said Barbara Warren, Executive Director of Citizens' Environmental Coalition.

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