[CPEO-BIF] Grannis criticizes New York's Brownfields tax credits

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Brownfield program takes a hit Cleanup plan lacks scope, shorts small  
projects, official says

By Brian Nearing
Albany Times Union (NY)
June 4, 2013

ALBANY - The state's former environmental chief, now a top staffer  
for Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, warned Tuesday that a state program  
meant to subsidize cleanups of polluted property is too expensive,  
has done a relative handful of projects and should be scaled back.

So far, state taxpayers are on the hook for about $3.3 billion in tax  
credits under the Brownfield Cleanup Program, and the amount keeps  
growing, Deputy Comptroller Pete Grannis said during a meeting of New  
Partners for Community Renewal, a not-for-profit group that believes  
too much state subsidy has gone to high-end projects, while smaller  
community-based projects languish.

"That's a lot of money for a program that is not meeting its  
objectives. It is a great, big carrot out there, and some people are  
reluctant to let go of it," said Grannis, who was Environmental  
Conservation commissioner from 2007 to 2010.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Brownfield-program-takes-a- 
hit-4577444.php

--

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