[CPEO-BIF] Permanent tax break proposed

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Press Release
Office of Representative Xavier Becerra (CA-31)
July 20, 2009

REPS. BECERRA, RYAN INTRODUCE BROWNFIELDS BILL TO BOOST URBAN 
ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN-UP

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today Representative Xavier Becerra (CA-31), Vice 
Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and senior member of the Ways and 
Means Committee, and Rep. Paul Ryan (WI-1) introduced the Brownfields 
Remediation Permanent Tax Incentive Act in the House of Representatives.

"At a time when urban landscapes throughout America need revitalization, 
it makes sense to provide incentives for companies to invest in cleaning 
up and redeveloping neglected brownfield sites," Rep. Becerra said. 
"There are nearly half a million neglected sites scattered throughout 
nearly every urban center in our country. Once signed into law, this 
legislation will provide a much needed boost to clean-up efforts and the 
jobs they create."

The bill addresses the scourge of "brownfields," plots of contaminated 
land often found in urban landscapes that require extensive 
environmental remediation before they can be developed. The legislation 
makes permanent a tax incentive for private companies that take on the 
task of cleaning up these contaminated sites by making environmental 
cleanup costs fully deductible in the year that they are incurred. 
Making this incentive permanent would increase the amount of private 
capital available to revitalize these sites, accelerating the renewal 
and redevelopment of surrounding neighborhoods and commercial areas.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that there are over 
450,000 brownfields sites in the United States. From abandoned 
warehouses and shuttered gas stations, to former factory sites and 
abandoned residential buildings, these sites could be put to productive 
use if developers undertook environmental remediation efforts to prepare 
them for redevelopment.

Such remediation efforts can bring diverse benefits to surrounding 
communities. In addition to reducing exposure to hazardous substances, 
they can create jobs through new construction projects, grow local tax 
bases, and help revitalize neighborhoods whose economic development 
efforts are weighed down by abandoned structures and housing blight. 
Brownfield remediation is also environmentally sound in that it 
encourages developers to use existing developed land rather than 
starting new construction on undeveloped land or farmland.

Rep. Becerra's legislation would provide a measure of certainty for 
businesses that may be interested in cleaning and redeveloping a 
contaminated site, but are unsure that the current tax expensing 
provision will remain in place throughout the project.

Rep. Becerra, a longtime champion of urban environmental renewal, first 
introduced a version of his brownfields bill with former Representative 
Jerry Weller in 2003.


For the original press release, see
http://becerra.house.gov/HoR/CA31/News/Press+Releases/2009/072009+REPS+BECERRA+RYAN+INTRODUCE+BROWNFIELDS+BILL+TO+BOOST+URBAN+ENVIRONMENTAL+CLEANUP.htm

--


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




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