U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY) introduced a bipartisan bill on Friday that would reauthorize the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Brownfields Program, as well as expand program eligibility.
The Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2016, H.R. 4463, would reauthorize the Brownfields Program, which helps cleanup and redevelop blighted properties. The program’s grant authority would be set at $250 million through 2021, and more non-profit groups would be eligible for grants under Gibson’s bill.
“Dilapidated former industrial sites across the Northeast not only threaten public health and safety, they hinder economic development and blight our neighborhoods,” Gibson said. “This bipartisan bill strengthens the federal Brownfields Program to give struggling communities the tools they need to remediate these properties, returning them to the tax rolls or creating prized open space for outdoor recreation.”
Properties acquired by local governments before the Brownfields Program was created in 2002 would be eligible for grants under the bill. New multi-purpose grants would also be available to help finance far-reaching development plans, and different types of non-profit and community groups would be eligible for grants.
U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT), who co-sponsored the bill with Gibson, said the measure would support economic growth, create jobs and revitalize communities by converting brownfields into livable, workable spaces.
“This legislation, which reauthorizes EPA’s Brownfields Program, will empower states, communities and stakeholders to assess, clean up and redevelop brownfield sites,” Esty said. “On average, every dollar of federal grant spending awarded through this program leverages $18 in other public and private financing. This is truly one of the best investments we can make.”
In 2015, Gibson and Esty co-sponsored the Brownfields Redevelopment Tax Incentive Reauthorization Act, H.R. 2002. The Brownfields Tax Incentive Program allows people to deduct environmental cleanup costs for brownfields properties.