[CPEO-BIF] "Making New York's brownfields cleanup program work (Commentary)"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Making New York's brownfields cleanup program work (Commentary)

Opinion by Jody Kass and Katie Himmelfarb
Syracuse Post-Standard (NY)
March 7, 2014

We join your recent editorial in commending Gov. Cuomo's intentions  
in reforming the state's brownfields cleanup programs. Unfortunately,  
however well-intentioned the governor's proposal is, it does not  
preclude lucrative tangible tax credits going to projects similar to  
the Mall. It also inexplicably cuts the visionary Brownfield  
Opportunity Areas (BOA) program, which works in tandem with the  
state's other brownfield programs, to provide just the kind of  
targeting that the editorial board and others have called for. BOA  
fills a gap, particularly in poor neighborhoods, communities of color  
and Upstate cities which are disproportionately impacted by multiple  
brownfields and which have struggled to reverse a history of  
disinvestment and decay. The BOA program is jumpstarting the  
brownfields redevelopment process in over 120 communities across New  
York state -- with hundreds of properties in weak market areas now  
advancing through feasibility studies, market analysis, site  
assessment and development.



The governor's proposed reforms will increase the percentage of tax  
credits afforded to projects in a BOA. However, without further  
funding, the majority of communities currently in the BOA program  
will be unable to complete their projects, and the tax credits will  
not be available to them. This means several BOA neighborhoods in  
Central New York that have begun work won't have the funds to get  
certified or implemented - including the Hiawatha Boulevard BOA, the  
village of East Syracuse BOA, the city of Norwich BOA, and the town  
of Clay


...

For the entire column, see
http://www.syracuse.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/03/ 
making_new_yorks_brownfields_cleanup_program_work_commentary.html

--

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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