[CPEO-BIF] Albany, NY --- reforming NY state brownfields law

[bobh@np.craigslist.org]

Act on brownfields

Albany, NY
Times Union
 May 29, 2007

New York's landmark 2003 brownfield law is flawed and needs fixing. It also happens
to be a textbook example of what can go wrong when negotiations are held in the
middle of the night, rather than in public, as Governor Spitzer now insists, as he
and legislative leaders try to reach agreement on pending issues.

The law was rushed through during one of the Legislature's infamous marathon
sessions, albeit with the best of intentions. Lawmakers had hoped to spur
development of contaminated sites, mostly in urban areas and upstate, by offering
developers generous tax incentives to build there.

But it didn't take long before the flaws were exposed. Tax credits of up to 22
percent were pegged not only to a developer's cost of cleaning up a contaminated
site, but also to the cost of construction itself. That meant big developers in
Manhattan could save millions of dollars even if their cleanup costs were
relatively modest. A case in point: The firm behind the New York Times Tower in
midtown Manhattan applied for $170 million in tax credits for the $850 million
project, even though cleanup costs were less than $1 million.


For the entire editorial, see:
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=592766&category=OPINION&newsdate=5/29/2007

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