[CPEO-BIF] Proposed changes to NY state brownfields law

[bobh@np.craigslist.org]

Fixing a flawed fixup law
Only 25 cleanups have been done under state's 2003 Brownfields Law; an amendment is
planned

Newsday.com
BY DANIEL WAGNER

May 23, 2007

When Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone was elected in 2002, he made the
revitalization of downtown Wyandanch a top priority. The community suffered from
poverty and poor infrastructure, and was peppered with more than 100
underdeveloped, contaminated sites - known in development circles as brownfields.

Having seen a 2000 report from the Suffolk County Planning Commission that
identified Wyandanch as "the most economically distressed community on Long
Island," Bellone said, "we thought it was very important to take a comprehensive
approach to revitalization," including transit-oriented development, beautification
initiatives and brownfield redevelopment.

One key to the plan was state funding for studies of infrastructure and
environmental needs, money to be awarded under New York's landmark Brownfields Law,
passed in 2003. The law provides for broadly applied grants in designated
Brownfields Opportunities Areas, like Wyandanch, as well as tax credits and
liability protection for developers of eligible contaminated sites.

But even after Wyandanch was awarded $258,000 under the program - more than any
other Long Island community - Bellone said the money didn't show up for 2 1/2
years. The good news came in 2004, yet his administration had to wait until the end
of 2006 as the money wended its way through a bureaucratic process that critics
call onerous and unnecessarily complex.

For the entire article, see:
http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzbrown235225987may23,0,7900118,print.story?coll=ny-business-print

Bob Hersh
CPEO

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