Message Creation Date was at 13-MAY-1997 12:12:00
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Vice President
_______________________________________________________________
Tuesday, May 13, 1997 Contact: (202) 456-7035
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VICE PRESIDENT GORE ANNOUNCES EXPANSION
OF BROWNFIELDS INITIATIVE
WASHINGTON-- Vice President Al Gore today (5/13) announced that he was
bringing together the resources of more than 15 Federal Agencies as part
of the Clinton Administration's new "Brownfields National Partnership."
The Partnership is one part of a three-pronged strategy on Brownfields
that the Vice President and senior administration officials announced today.
The second part is a new round of Brownfields project grants and the third
part is the Vice President's call to Congress to pass the President's
Brownfields legislative package.
The Brownfields Partnership builds on the Administration's actions to
empower and revitalize America's communities. This expanded effort includes
commitments from across the federal government and the private sector to
help thousands of communities cleanup and redevelop Brownfields -- abandoned
pieces of land, usually in inner cities, that are lightly contaminated from
previous industrial use.
"I now call on Congress to do its part by passing the President's
Brownfields legislative proposals, including the Brownfields tax
incentive," the Vice President said. "Our communities demand it. And
our children deserve it."
The Brownfields Partnership -- which includes a $300 million Federal
investment in Brownfields cleanup and redevelopment from more than 15
Federal Agencies -- is expected to leverage from $5 billion to $28
billion in private investment, support up to 196,000 jobs, and protect
up to 34, 000 acres of undeveloped "greenfield" areas outside of
cities.
The Vice President also announced a new round of Brownfields
redevelopment pilot project grants to 34 additional communities to
spur revitalization in those communities. To date, the Clinton
Administration has awarded 113 such pilot projects, totaling nearly
$20 million to towns and cities across the country as seed money to
promote Brown fields redevelopment efforts.
The Administration launched the Brownfields initiative in November,
1993 with a $200,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to
Cleveland, Ohio so that the state and local officials could help
create a model for redeveloping these areas across the country. The
Administration has since taken a series of actions, as part of its
overall community empowerment efforts, to expand the Brownfields
Initiative.
Through today's announcement, the Vice President noted, "I am bringing
the resources of the many different Federal Agencies that can make a
difference on this issue to the table -- and we will continue to seek
out additional partners in this effort." New Federal resources
committed include additional job training support funds from the
Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Education; new
redevelopment and housing funds from the Department of Housing and
Urban Development; and start-up funding for the government itself
to review and help bring back to life its own idled Brownfields property
holdings.
"But we must do more," the Vice President said, stressing that Congress
must pass the President's Brownfields legislative package. This package
includes a tax incentive to encourage Brownfields redevelopment. This
$2 billion tax incentive, contained in the President's FY 1988
balanced budget plan, is expected to leverage $10 billion in private
sector resources.
The Vice President was joined in the press conference by EPA
Administrator Carol Browner, Secretary of Treasury Robert Rubin, and
the Mayor of Dallas, Ronald Kirk.
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