Let's clean 'em up
Adjustments to the 2003 brownfields law will help fulfill its promise

First published in Newsday, May 4, 2007

It took years of negotiation to craft the 2003 state brownfields law, which was designed to help turn contaminated, unproductive land and buildings into clean developments that pay taxes and help the community. But almost four years later, that law needs tweaking.

One of the law's sections, the brownfield cleanup program, offers tax credits to firms that clean up the sites, once the Department of Environmental Conservation certifies that the cleanup is satisfactory. But as the program unfolded, the state looked at the potential dimensions of these tax credits and realized that they could cost New York a bundle. So, the state has tightened the rules, which reduces its liability but also slows down the pace of greening up thousands of brownfields.

Another major approach to brownfields is more innovative: The brownfield opportunity area program is designed to draw in citizens and developers to clean up entire neighborhoods. That makes sense. If someone cleans up one contaminated site, but others nearby remain unchanged, that doesn't help the community.

As sound as the concept is, the execution has lagged. For one thing, the opportunity area programs have required a memorandum of understanding between the legislature and the governor. These take forever to obtain and slow things down.

Luckily, the new budget seems to have eliminated the language that requires these memoranda in the future. Next, the legislature needs to put up financial incentives to draw developers into the brownfield opportunity area program. It should link the tax credits already in the law to the opportunity area program - and fix all the other defects in an immensely promising law that has not worked well yet.

Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.