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| Brownfields Weekly |
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July 5, 2001 IN THIS ISSUE:
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Senators Jeffords and Levin Introduce New Brownfields Bills Washington, DC - Two separate bills to help communities speed up brownfields redevelopment were introduced by Senator James Jeffords (I-VT) and Senator Carl Levin (D-MI). One measure, known as the Brownfields Economic Development Act (S. 1078), would amend Section 108 of the Housing and Community Development Act to allow the Department of Housing and Urban Development to make existing Brownfields Economic Development Initiative grants independent of economic development loan guarantees and more easily available to local governments. The second bill, the Brownfield Site Redevelopment Assistance Act (S. 1079), would amend the Department of Public Works and Economic Development Act to authorize the Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration to provide assistance to communities for brownfields redevelopment. It also would authorize $60 million per year from fiscal year 2002 to fiscal 2006 to help states restore brownfield sites. A similar bill (H.R. 2064) was introduced in the House June 5 by a bipartisan group of House members. For the latest updates on the new Senate Brownfields bills, enter the bill number at the link below:
NH Commissioner Selected to Head New England EPA Concord, NH - New Hampshire's veteran environmental services commissioner has been named to head the federal EPA's New England operations. Robert W. Varney, who has headed the state Department of Environmental Services for 12 years, was appointed by the Bush White House yesterday as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 1 administrator. When he assumes the post in the coming weeks, Varney, a Bow resident, will head all EPA activities for the six New England states. He succeeds John DeVillars, the Clinton appointee who left the post shortly after the 2000 Presidential election was decided. Varney, well-known by state officials nationally, was personally lobbied to take the post by President George W. Bush's EPA administrator, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman. Although he had been long rumored as the leading candidate for the post, Varney, 46, officially learned the news yesterday while attending a conference of New England and eastern Canadian environmental officials in Prince Edward Island, Canada. He said he did not know when he will begin the new post, but said he assumed it would be later in the summer. In an interview, Varney said his goal will be "to improve the partnership between the EPA and the states, which will enable us to improve the public health and the environment the region." He said he also will try to "provide more flexibility to the states in carrying out their regulatory activities, especially in areas of 'brownfield' redevelopment and energy conservation and efficiency." The federal "brownfield" program promotes the cleanup and reuse of contaminated sites with grants to states and offers of limited liability for the companies that develop the sites. Varney was nominated New Hampshire DES commissioner a dozen years ago by then-Gov. Judd Gregg. He began his service on June 28, 1989, and is one of the longest-serving state environmental agency heads in the country. Gregg, now a two-term U.S. senator who is close to President Bush, nominated Varney to the federal post earlier this year. Varney's long tenure in Concord has been free of controversy. He is one of the few state agency heads to be named by governors of both parties. He was renominated to four-year terms by Republican Gov. Steve Merrill in 1994 and Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen in 1998. "We transformed the agency from a large bureaucracy with very poor communications internally and externally," said Varney, "to one that is now regarded as one of the better state environmental agencies in the country, with good stakeholder involvement. We've tried to be very inclusive in the way we've done things." Varney said he tried to include environmental and business interests in the development of regulations. "That resulted in many of our stakeholders supporting us when we became involved in rule-making activities. "I'd like to think that we now have a solid agency that understands the importance of being inclusive and of reaching out to various interests," Varney said. "We've also tried to provide technical assistance to regulated industries to help people do the right things. "We've tried to avoid punitive enforcement by working with people on the front end, and that has proven to be good for public health and the environment in New Hampshire." Gregg said Varney "has been an outstanding commissioner in New Hampshire. He has done an exceptional job bringing diverse interests together to protect the environment across the state." Varney also was praised by Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., ranking Republican on the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. He said Varney is "a friend" who will "serve the region with distinction." "He has testified before the environment and public works committee a number of times in Washington and New Hampshire," said Smith. "Now, I know he will serve this President with honor." Shaheen spokesman Pamela Walsh said the state will "miss his leadership. It's a great loss, but the governor looks forward to continuing to have a close working relationship with him in his new role, and we're sure he will continue to help New Hampshire. "Bob Varney has put New Hampshire at the forefront of environmental issues and policy in the country and has made the department more efficient, more effective and more innovative," Walsh said.
New York State Assembly Quickly Passes Brownfields Legislation After several years of effort, the New York State Assembly quickly - and suddenly - passed state brownfields legislation. A companion bill has been introduced with leadership support in New York's Republican-led Senate. There is much to be resolved between the Assembly, Senate, Governor Pataki and the Brownfields Coalition that has been driving the legislative effort. The Democratic-led Assembly acted after the environmental committee chair, Richard Brodsky of suburban Westchester, put forth a bill incorporating some of the Brownfields Coalition's key points, in particular liability protection for lenders, prospective purchaser and municipalities. The Coalition was the result of a consensus process supported by several foundations that tried to propose a bill reflecting concerns of environmentalists, business owners, community groups, government agencies and developers. Key members of the Coalition include Jody Kass, formerly of the New York City Partnership, Val Washington a former state attorney now head of Environmental Advocates, Jim Tripp of the Environmental Defense Fund, as well as bankers and real estate professionals. The Coalition emphasizes the need for clear, consistent cleanup standards - not the current site by site negotiation in which there are effectively no standards. The bill does not address this need, a sticking point with some environmental groups fearing any potential diminution of standards. There is also concern about providing funding for community stakeholder activities. Meanwhile, the Governor and his advisors had proposed to tie brownfields action with much needed state Superfund revisions and refinancing. While there is a rationale for such a comprehensive approach, in New York as in other states and the federal level, Brownfields legislation has fared better independently. New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania all have passed brownfields programs more effective than New York's. In New York, all of the competing agendas need to be worked out to ensure the final package will encourage the private development and investment sought by the participants. It is remarkable that, led by the Coalition, the brownfields issue finally made in to the front burner, despite a long overdue budget and frayed tempers even by Albany standards. It is hoped that final legislation can be passed and signed during what is left of this year's legaislative session.
Breaking New Ground: Washington DC, July 10-11 Remediation projects that apply natural resource-based approaches are achieving substantial cost savings while improving the social, economic and environmental value of sites. While these natural approaches are successful in cleaning up many contaminated sites, there are still many barriers that discourage their increased use in RCRA/Superfund remediation projects and Brownfields redevelopment. Sponsored by The Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), this conference will explore these barriers using experts from across the U.S. who will present real-world case studies highlighting any impediments grouped into institutional, social and technical areas. Each session will conclude with a facilitated discussion where participants will have an opportunity to suggest additional methods for applying ecological enhancements and ideas for reducing barriers to their application. Visit WHC’s Web site for more details and a summary on the 2000 RCRA conference: Or contact: Wildlife Habitat Council, 1010 Wayne Ave. Suite 920, Silver Spring, MD 20910; (phone) 301-588-8994; (email) RCRA@wildlifehc.org
"Community Advice: A Constructive Approach to Brownfields" Brownfields projects can influence nearby communities in many ways. They can remove health hazards and visible blight, or they can simply provide window dressing under the guise of institutional controls. They can bring in new polluting industries to the sites of old ones; they can trigger gentrification that looks good but drives the old neighbors out; or they can provide new business and housing opportunities to long-time residents. They can generate traffic, or they can bring new transportation options. They can provide new jobs, or they can aggravate economic disparities. Today, at most Brownfields sites, the people who are most affected have little influence over which of these outcomes prevail. Environmental decisions - or at least sign-off - are the responsibility of state regulators, with local health agencies playing a supporting role. Land use planning is generally a prerogative of local governments, which usually answer to an electorate much larger than the affected neighborhood. Financing may be controlled by redevelopment agencies, the private sector, or a mix of public and private entities. Given the concentration of brownfields in poor communities, the neighbors rarely have the resources to influence investment decisions. To the affected public, the combined process of environmental cleanup and economic revitalization is at best bewildering. Agencies and companies, often with conflicting or at least disparate goals and objectives, often take actions without considering the views or interests of the people who live next door, downstream, downwind, or up-traffic. To achieve the lofty goals inherent in the Brownfields concept, it's essential to bring public stakeholders into the decision-making process early in the project development process, and to keep them involved until completion. Though many developers are suspicious of community activists, a constructive program of public involvement actually promotes more successful projects. Unfortunately, the traditional process for involving the public in environmental decision-making has four key shortcomings:
Experience with federal facilities and a limited number of other sites suggests that public participation can be significantly enhanced by a three-part program of community advisory groups, community assistance offices, and technical advisors. Statutes and regulations should entitle communities to this type of help, but rules should be written flexibly enough so a one-size-fits-all model is not imposed onto communities that do not need or want it. It's important to understand that effective public participation programs demand, even when subsidized, a great deal of volunteer time and effort. Read Mr. Siegel's three-part "Community Advice" recommendations at the link below: Visit CPEO online: |