[CPEO-BIF] Florida brownfields program

[Lenny Siegel]

Incentives needed for cleanup, development

by Teri L. Donaldson
Fort Myers News Press (FL)
October 12, 2006

Gov. Jeb Bush recently signed legislation overhauling Florida's 
brownfields program, and in doing so placed Florida first in the nation 
in the amount of corporate income tax credits available for the 
redevelopment of brownfields.

Under the new program, developers who incur costs cleaning up a site can 
recover as much as $1 million in tax credits in the final year of 
cleanup, with additional perks for redevelopment that results in 
affordable housing. With housing costs on the rise and land increasingly 
scarce in metropolitan areas, the new legislation could mean much-needed 
relief for many communities throughout Florida.

A brownfield is any property that has been abandoned or underused due to 
possible environmental contamination, in both rural and urban areas. 
Florida has thousands of such properties, some of which span hundreds of 
acres. There are four designated brownfield sites in Lee County, 
including the Dunbar Enterprise Zone Brownfield Area.


...

For the entire article, see
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061012/OPINION/610120360/1075

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Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel at cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org