[CPEO-BIF] "EPA's 'proven program' gets rare praise from Republicans"

[Lenny Siegel]

Reprinted with permission.


> BROWNFIELDS:
> EPA's 'proven program' gets rare praise from Republicans
> Dylan Brown, E&E reporter
> Published: Thursday, July 23, 2015
> Every lawmaker shared a hometown success story about U.S. EPA's  
> brownfields program yesterday as a House subcommittee looked for  
> ways to strengthen the grant program.
>
> Acknowledging it was rare for him to praise EPA, House  
> Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster lauded its  
> efforts to revitalize abandoned or underused tracts during the  
> Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee hearing.
>
> "We've seen great examples of how you can take those brownfield  
> sites and turn them into valuable, productive pieces of land," the  
> Pennsylvania Republican said.
>
> There are more than 400,000 brownfield sites -- former mills, dumps  
> and other properties scorned because of the real or perceived  
> contamination, according to the Government Accountability Office.
>
> The EPA effort to revitalize those tracts enjoys rare bipartisan  
> support. Every congressional district has at least one brownfield,  
> especially in the Great Lakes and Northeast regions that endured an  
> exodus of manufacturing in the late 20th century.
>
> "We absolutely have to get manufacturing back in New York state and  
> the Northeast, and I believe we can do that, but in the meantime,  
> we've got to take care of the sites that some manufacturers and  
> businesses left a mess," said Rep. John Katko, a Republican whose  
> central New York district has been hit hard by the downturn.
>
> To appear at yesterday's hearing, Katko had to forgo a symbolic  
> swim with other community leaders in Onondaga Lake near Syracuse.  
> With many residents still apprehensive about water quality in a  
> lake that was only recently declared safe for swimming, he asked  
> EPA Assistant Administrator Mathy Stanislaus about how to put his  
> agency's program to work on the lake.
>
> Stanislaus pointed to EPA's "model program," which uses  
> partnerships with local and state agencies to leverage additional  
> funds.
>
> According to EPA, the program returns $18 for every dollar spent.  
> Property values for the nearly 45,000 refurbished acres in the  
> effort rose between 5.1 and 12.8 percent.
>
> Cleanups and redevelopment have created more than 106,000 jobs and  
> $23.3 billion for projects so far, Stanislaus said.
>
> This year, he said, 120 sites are expected to be cleaned up,  
> creating at least 5,000 jobs in areas with above-average unemployment.
>
> "It achieves public health protection by cleaning up these  
> properties, it achieves economic development, community  
> revitalization, and it address social issues like unemployment,"  
> Stanislaus said.
>
> EPA also appears receptive to tweaks suggested by members of Congress.
>
> Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) questioned whether the agency  
> could do more to help communities overcome concerns about liability.
>
> According to Stanislaus, the agency is reaching out to the National  
> League of Cities and other groups, as well as clarifying the  
> process and associated risks to eliminate misconceptions about  
> liability.
>
> "We welcome further engagement from you all, as well as communities  
> around the country," he said.
>
> Helping rural communities
>
> While usually associated with urban sites, 24 percent of brownfield  
> grants went to communities with fewer than 20,000 residents, EPA said.
>
> Geologist Paul Gruber of the National Ground Water Association  
> urged the subcommittee to increase incentives for rural areas where  
> brownfields and other contaminated sites threaten aquifers.
>
> And J. Christian Bollwage, mayor of Elizabeth, N.J., representing  
> the Conference of Mayors, urged appropriators to meet previously  
> authorized funding levels of $250 million for the "proven program."  
> Only a third of applicants presently receive grants, EPA says.
>
> Bollwage also advocated for allowing grants to cover reasonable  
> administrative costs like rent and utilities, a chief concern of  
> smaller communities.
>
> And Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.) raised the issue of making  
> nonprofits eligible for brownfield grants. Nonprofits often play  
> vital roles in local projects, but figuring out how much a project  
> could cost is a tall task as they cannot legally receive assessment  
> grants.
>
> Stanislaus said Esty's change would require congressional action.
>
> EPA is expressing concern about Senate brownfield-reauthorization  
> legislation that would set aside more funding exclusively for  
> assessments (E&ENews PM, June 2).
> Stanislaus said the Senate bill could take flexibility away from  
> local governments at various stages of the cleanup process.
>
> "If we divide the pot up front, it's essentially putting the  
> federal government in the position of judging end use," he said. "I  
> think that it should be up to the community at the right time to  
> determine what the end use is."
>
> Bollwage pressed for more local control, consolidating grants to  
> avoid delays and investor uncertainty.
>
> "The Conference of Mayors would like to see the establishment of a  
> multi-purpose grant to be given to communities that have a proven  
> track record of fully utilizing their brownfield money," he said.
>
> Bollwage also called for more cleanup grants as the established  
> program moves from easier to more difficult tasks.
>
> But Stanislaus urged caution.
>
> "It could have the unintended impact of actually reducing the total  
> number of communities that receive grants," he said.
>
>
>
>
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