'Brown' is beautiful.How Michigan's new brownfield See greenfield. redevelopment law is changing the rules of the game Michigan's brownfield redevelopment laws are setting the standard for the nation. In fact, a recent study by the Consumers Renaissance Development Corp. ranks Michigan's program No. 1 among the states in terms of liability protection, clean-up standards, financial incentives and government support at both state and federal levels. Since 1995, when Michigan's environmental liability laws were sharply revised, developers have invested more than $1 billion in brownfield projects. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is the agency of the state of Michigan charged with "Protecting Michigan's Environment - Ensuring Michigan's Future"[1] History estimates that more than 5,000 jobs are associated with this private investment. Michigan offers numerous financial incentives that were developed at the national, state and local levels to encourage brownfield development, including brownfield redevelopment grants, site assessment grants, clean-up and redevelopment funds and single business tax credits (visit the Detroiter online at www.detroitchamber.com for a complete description of these incentives). Michael Johnston for the Welsh footballer see Michael Johnston (footballer) Michael Johnston is an American who is notable for identifying as ex-gay, and for using his HIV-positive status to deliberately infect his sexual partners. , director of regulatory affairs Regulatory Affairs (RA), also called Government Affairs, is a profession within regulated industries, such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, energy, and banking. Regulatory Affairs professionals usually have responsibility for the following general areas: Public Act 144: Questions and answers How will PA 144 encourage more projects? Johnston: The new law expands redevelopment incentives to include "blighted blight n. 1. a. Any of numerous plant diseases resulting in sudden conspicuous wilting and dying of affected parts, especially young, growing tissues. b. " and "functionally obsolete" structures. Previously, incentives focused only on the so-called "below-ground contamination." Many brownfield sites in urban areas, however, require demolition of above-ground structures to allow access to the below-ground contamination. Because there were no incentives to deal with the above-ground structures, the benefit of below-ground incentives was lost and these sites didn't get cleaned up. The new legislation removes that barrier and truly encourages more projects. How have the Single Business Tax (SBT SBT Symplastin bleeding time ) credits expanded under brownfield redevelopment? Johnston: The previous brownfield SBT credit was capped at $1 million per taxpayer. The new legislation places a cap of $30 million per calendar year on total SBT credits for all projects with a cost of $10 million or less. While the total amount of annual credits is capped, the $1 million per taxpayer lifetime limitation is eliminated. Also, the maximum amount of a single credit is increased to $30 million. Up to 15 projects involving credits over $1 million could be approved each calendar year and, of those, up to three projects could involve credits over $10 million. This latter change allows the state to focus on a few large "marquee" projects the prior program could not attract. What state agency approves the credits for "smaller" projects? Johnston: The State Treasury is the approving agency for projects with a total cost of $10 million or less. A project application must be approved or denied within 45 days. If Treasury does not meet the 45-day deadline, the project would be considered approved. If a project were approved, the state treasurer Noun 1. state treasurer - the treasurer for a state government financial officer, treasurer - an officer charged with receiving and disbursing funds would issue a pre-approval letter containing the maximum total eligible investment for the project on which credits would be claimed. If an application is denied, the taxpayer could apply again for the same project or another project. What agency approves credits for projects costing more than $10 million. Johnston: Larger projects are approved by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority and would require the concurrence CONCURRENCE, French law. The equality of rights, or privilege which several persons-have over the same thing; as, for example, the right which two judgment creditors, Whose judgments were rendered at the same time, have to be paid out of the proceeds of real estate bound by them. Dict. de Jur. h.t. of the state treasurer, who serves on the MEGA (1) Million (10 to the 6th power). Abbreviated "M". In communications, mega typically refers to 1,000,000. In storage, mega typically refers to 1,048,576. See MB, binary values and space/time. (2) A prefix attached to words that means a very large size or quantity. board. MEGA has to approve or disapprove dis·ap·prove v. dis·ap·proved, dis·ap·prov·ing, dis·ap·proves v.tr. 1. To have an unfavorable opinion of; condemn. 2. To refuse to approve; reject. v.intr. an application for a project within 65 days of receipt. If MEGA fails to meet the 65-day deadline, the application is sent to the state treasurer, who has five days to approve or deny it. Then, if the state treasurer fails to act by the five-day deadline, the application would be considered approved. After MEGA approves an application, it issues a pre-approval letter stating, among other things, the percentage of eligible investment for the project and the maximum total eligible investment on which credits could be claimed. A copy of the pre-approval letter is then sent to the Department of Treasury. As with smaller projects, an applicant who was denied a credit could reapply Re`ap`ply´ v. t. & i. 1. To apply again. reapply vi → volver a presentarse, hacer or presentar una nueva solicitud . How are these processes different from the previous brownfield program? Johnston: Under the previous program, SBT credits were considered "self-implementing" and did not need pre-approval from a state agency. Eligible expenditures were simply claimed as credits on the company's SBT tax returns each year. With the expansion of the program, some concern was raised in the Legislature about the effect on the state budget. As a result, a cap was placed at $30 million for projects with a cost of less than $10 million. With a monetary cap on the program, and a limit of 15 projects with credits above $1 million, a pre-approval process had to be established. The new approval process was designed to be as efficient as possible to avoid any administrative delays that might hinder hin·der 1 v. hin·dered, hin·der·ing, hin·ders v.tr. 1. To be or get in the way of. 2. To obstruct or delay the progress of. v.intr. investment in brownfield sites. Reprinted with permission from the October 2000 issue of the Michigan Manufacturers Association Enterprise magazine. A brownfield case history Project: A 13,700-square-foot clinic for Detroit Community Health Connection Inc. (DCHC DCHC DC Hardcore (music genre) ), a private nonprofit corporation nonprofit corporation n. an organization incorporated under state laws and approved by both the state's Secretary of State and its taxing authority as operating for educational, charitable, social, religious, civic or humanitarian purposes. that provides primary preventive public health-care services. Site: Several vacant parcels on East Jefferson Avenue in Detroit. One portion of the site had formerly been used as a gasoline gasoline or petrol, light, volatile mixture of hydrocarbons for use in the internal-combustion engine and as an organic solvent, obtained primarily by fractional distillation and "cracking" of petroleum, but also obtained from natural gas, by station, another as a bowling alley and auto service station. Some of the parcels were now owned by the city, others by a church. Key steps: 1. DCHC hired an environmental consultant to conduct a Phase I site assessment and a phase II subsurface sub·sur·face adj. Of, relating to, or situated in an area beneath a surface, especially the surface of the earth or of a body of water. Adj. 1. investigation, which revealed that five underground storage tanks An Underground Storage Tank (UST), in United States environmental law, is a tank and any underground piping connected to the tank that has at least 10 percent of its combined volume underground. might still be located on the property and that hazardous liquids might be in the ground. 2. DCHC then contacted the Redevelopment of Urban Sites (REUS) Action Team to determine how to cost effectively address potential environmental contamination at these parcels. The REUS Team identified the issues as: liability protection for DCHC, identification and removal of underground storage tanks and removal of any hazardous liquids from the soil. 3. The state of Michigan entered into a Covenant Not To Sue COVENANT NOT TO SUE. This is a covenant entered into by a party who had a cause of action at the time of making it, and by which he agrees not to sue the party liable to such action. 2. with DCHC and the city of Detroit for contamination on the property in return for further investigation of the property and remediation of any identified hazardous liquids. 4. As part of the sales transaction, the city of Detroit identified and removed six (one more than was suspected) underground storage tanks from the property, together with petroleum-saturated soils in the vicinity of the tank pits. 5. The REUS Team met with Comerica Bank, the project lender, to identify and address its concerns. Comerica provided a $950,000 loan to finance the project. Result: DCHC spent about $1.9 million to build the clinic and $42,000 to purchase and clean up the site. During construction, two additional underground storage tanks were found and removed by the developer at a cost of about $18,000. The clinic opened in 1996 and now represents an important link in Detroit's health-care chain. A former vacant parcel of property is now a useful, productive contributor to community well-being. Source: Detroit Environmental Affairs Department |
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