[CPEO-BIF] Pennsylvania's Land Recycling Program

[Lenny Siegel]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Office of Edward G. Rendell
Governor of Pennsylvania
September 22, 2006


GOVERNOR RENDELL'S $230 MILLION INVESTMENT IN LAND RECYCLING HAS CLEANED 
UP 950 SITES, CREATED OR RETAINED 27,000 JOBS

HARRISBURG - Governor Edward G. Rendell today announced that the state's 
strategic investment of more than $230 million over the last three years 
to cleanup brownfields has yielded tremendous benefits for 
Pennsylvania's environment and economy, helping to clean up and 
redevelop roughly 950 abandoned industrial sites while creating or 
retaining some 27,000 jobs.

"Our strategy of targeting state resources to sites with the potential 
for the greatest impact is making Pennsylvania more competitive and is 
enhancing the quality of life for our residents," Governor Rendell said. 
"We are cleaning up contaminated sites and returning them to productive 
use at an accelerated pace to give our cities, towns and boroughs the 
added tax base and economic infrastructure they need to grow and thrive."

A new report, "Revitalizing Pennsylvania: A Report on Brownfield 
Investments 2003-2006," notes that, on average, every public dollar 
invested in brownfield revitalization projects leverages at least a 
matching amount in private funds and, in some cases, as much as four 
times that amount. The state report was issued today at the beginning of 
a two-day conference, "Pennsylvania Brownfields 2006: Putting the Deal 
Together," which brings together state officials, investors and developers.

Governor Rendell has worked aggressively to provide new incentives and 
financing and he has put in place enhanced management approaches to 
hasten brownfield redevelopment.

Under the state's Land Recycling Program, Pennsylvania has cleaned up 
2,194 contaminated and abandoned industrial sites, creating or retaining 
as many as 76,000 jobs since 1995. About 40 percent of those 11-year 
totals have come in just the last three years under Governor Rendell's 
leadership. Roughly 950 sites have been cleaned up and redeveloped and 
27,266 jobs have been created or retained since 2003.

The Brownfield Action Team, launched by Governor Rendell in 2004 and 
administered by the Department of Environmental Protection, helps to 
accelerate redevelopment deals and gives investors the incentive they 
need to clean up contaminated industrial sites. BAT projects typically 
get permitted in half the usual time. Since its launch in 2004, BAT has 
helped 32 projects in 22 counties to redevelop more than 4,500 acres of 
brownfields.

"Environmental challenges are driving economic growth in Pennsylvania," 
DEP Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty said. "Our commonwealth's industrial 
heritage is an asset and not a drawback, helping to form the cornerstone 
of future economic growth. Cleaning up abandoned sites not only 
addresses serious environmental problems, but the work also provides new 
opportunities for job creation and business development."

Governor Rendell has transformed Pennsylvania's already successful 
brownfields program primarily from a cleanup tool to address 
contamination into a system that encourages new investment in sites 
where environmental restoration would create jobs and revitalize 
communities. Economic development corporations are embracing these 
enhanced management approaches that employ both the human capital of BAT 
and new state resources.

"Governor Rendell has mandated a cooperative effort between state 
agencies to encourage and improve communities," Department of Community 
and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Yablonsky said. "The 
redevelopment of abandoned, idled or underused industrial and commercial 
facilities should be --- and are --- the focus of state resources aimed 
at construction and redevelopment projects."

Funding for brownfield revitalization comes from a variety of sources, 
including the Governor's Business in Our Sites Fund, which provides $300 
million for local redevelopment authorities and economic development 
corporations to acquire, remediate and prepare shovel-ready sites for 
businesses that are seeking to build or expand immediately.

Another critical revenue source is PennWorks, a $250 million 
voter-approved bond initiative that finances improvements to aging water 
and wastewater systems that can serve as a disincentive to development. 
Governor Rendell's $625 million voter-approved Growing Greener II 
initiative also provides continued funding to support efforts that 
return abandoned industrial sites to productive use.

The Governor's efforts are not limited to cash investments. The Keystone 
Opportunity Zone program provides once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to 
develop land with greatly-reduced or completely-eliminated state and 
local taxes. These incentives are also helping to revitalize 
underdeveloped and underused areas in communities across Pennsylvania.

To better serve the needs of growing companies, the Governor's Action 
Team devotes its full attention to finding the right fit between a 
growing company and a prime Pennsylvania location. Community Action 
Teams, modeled after GAT, work directly with communities that are 
struggling with revitalizations efforts. Together, these two efforts 
bring a more centralized, focused approach to economic development, 
linking prospective companies with the best-fitting communities.

"Brownfield Bundling," launched jointly by DCED, DEP and the 
Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, identified 12 
brownfield sites in secondary markets that were ready for redevelopment. 
The initiative marketed these properties to developers who previously 
had not been active in those markets. Now, less than 12 months later, 
redevelopment activity is under way at half of the sites.

Successful brownfield revitalization programs also encourage "smart 
growth" principles. National projections show that for every one acre of 
brownfield property redeveloped, four acres of green space are preserved.

The complete report, "Revitalizing Pennsylvania: A Report on Brownfield 
Investments 2003-2006," along with an appendix listing all sites 
receiving state funding during that time period, is available at 
www.growinggreener2.com/files/BrownfieldRpt_092006.pdf. The report also 
is available at DEP's Web site, www.depweb.state.pa.us.

...

For the original release, see
http://www.governor.state.pa.us/governor/cwp/view.asp?a=1115&q=449522

-- 
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
http://www.cpeo.org