| From: | lschnapf@aol.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date: | Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:13:57 -0700 (PDT) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reply: | cpeo-brownfields | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Subject: | Re: [CPEO-BIF] Brownfields Digest, Vol 46, Issue 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Here is some more detail on how the BCP reform legislation will adversely impact affordable housing projects. the following illustrations are based on real applications from sites in the bronx.
For the $50MM project, we have an estimate of a $1MM cleanup (track 1). Under the old law, the developer would have been entitled to 22% of site prep costs ($220K) and 22% of $50MM ($11,000) for a total tax credit of $11,220MM. Under the new law, developer would be entitled to 50% of $1MM ($500K) and 3 times site prep costs ($3MM). Thus, the developer only gets $3.5MM tax credit.
For the $30MM project, the original cleanup cost would have also been around $1MM but this was based on track 2. They would have been eligible for $6MM in tangible property tax so that is a 50% hit. Now, they are inclined to propose track 1 which would increase the cleanup costs to $2.1MM just to get them even to where they would have been-if you count spending an extra $1MM unnecessarily being even. And this comes at a time when AF projects are only getting 78 cents on the dollar. The BCP was more important than ever to plug the gap. The leaders in Albany have failed these constituents miserably. The brownfield committee of the EBA/NYS which I chair had recommended linking the tangible property tax credit to the cleanup costs with bump ups for worthwhile projects. Without the bump up, the multiplier is woefully inadequate. Thus, unless you have a "big dig" or high-rise project, the $35MM cap is largely illusory because of the low multiplier for site prep costs. The irony is that the very kind of sites that were targeted for exclusion will be the ones that benefit from the "reform" Maybe that is why my big developer clients are licking their chops.
I had cautioned my colleagues proposing richer tax credits that "pigs live and hogs get slaughtered" but in this case the sheep are going to get slaughtered while the hogs will be put out to stud. This isn't reform, its gutting the fish. Larry Larry Schnapf
55 E.87th Street #8B/8C New York, NY 10128 212-876-3189 home 212-756-2205 office 212-593-5955 fax www.environmental-law.net website -----Original Message----- From: brownfields-request@lists.cpeo.org To: brownfields@lists.cpeo.org Sent: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 2:20 pm Subject: Brownfields Digest, Vol 46, Issue 14 Send Brownfields mailing list submissions to
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Today's Topics: 1. Re: Brownfields Digest, Vol 46, Issue 13 (LSchnapf@aol.com) 2. Watertown, NY vapor testing (Lenny Siegel) 3. Renter notification, New York vapor intrusion (Lenny Siegel) Attached Message
The brownfield reform legislation agreed to by the Governor and leaders of the legislature at 2 am Monday is a TERRIBLE compromise. The reform was intended to limit the alleged abuses by a handful of expensive condo development projects but the irony is that these kind of projects will be the ones that benefit the most from the reform.
The new tax credit caps will have adversely impact affordable housing/workforce housing projects and small sites where the cleanup costs are disproportionate to the site value/project. The result of this legislation is that we will see more abandoned gas stations in New York and the regionally significant projects will be incentivized to develop greenfields because of other state incentives.
This was a last-minute, minimalist deal that failed to deal with the other important issues associated with the NY brownfield program such as eligibility, fill material sites, etc. This compromise is worse than the program that was in existence prior to the moratorium. But I guess this is what happens when you have three men in a room making decisions at 2 am on the last day of the legislative session.
Larry
Lawrence Schnapf
Adjunct Professor-New York Law School 55 E.87th Street #8B/8C New York, NY 10128 212-876-3189 (h) 212-756-2205 (w) 212-593-5955 (f) 203-263-5212 (weekend) www.environmental-law.net Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. Attached Message
DEC finds chemical at homes, Air Brake
By ROBERT BRAUCHLE WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES (NY) June 24, 2008 Trace amounts of trichlo-roethylene have been found on the former New York Air Brake site and under homes on Starbuck Avenue north of Hoard Street, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The TCE was dumped by the manufacturer more than 50 years ago and still remains trapped in the subsurface bedrock. Underground water may be transporting the chemical north and west of the Air Brake campus. When the TCE evaporates, the "vapor intrusions" can collect at dangerous levels in basements and under homes. ... For the entire article, see http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20080624/NEWS03/229565042 -- Lenny Siegel Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight a project of the Pacific Studies Center 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041 Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545 Fax: 650/961-8918 <lsiegel@cpeo.org> http://www.cpeo.org Attached Message
State TCE bill heads to Paterson
Pataki, Spitzer vetoed previous versions By Tom Wilber Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin June 25, 2008 After being vetoed twice, state lawmakers have passed a third version of a bill designed to inform renters about TCE hazards and other pollution they may unknowingly live with. The renter notification bill passed the Assembly by a 140-0 vote and the Senate by 62-0 during last-minute voting late Monday and early Tuesday before summer recess. The bill was authored by Assemblywoman Donna A. Lupardo, D-Endwell and Sen. Thomas W. Libous, R-Binghamton. Both represent districts where TCE fumes have polluted properties through a process called vapor intrusion. ... For the entire article, see http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080625/NEWS01/806250330/1001 -- Lenny Siegel Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight a project of the Pacific Studies Center 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041 Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545 Fax: 650/961-8918 <lsiegel@cpeo.org> http://www.cpeo.org _______________________________________________ Brownfields mailing list Brownfields@lists.cpeo.org http://lists.cpeo.org/listinfo.cgi/brownfields-cpeo.org _______________________________________________ Brownfields mailing list Brownfields@lists.cpeo.org http://lists.cpeo.org/listinfo.cgi/brownfields-cpeo.org | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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