Turning brown green in New York.After a seven-year struggle, the New York Legislature The New York Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York. It is a bicameral legislature, consisting of the lower house New York State Assembly and the upper house New York Senate. The legislature is seated at the New York State Capitol in Albany. passed the Superfund Refinancing and Brownfield Cleanup Act of 2003 signed by the governor Oct. 7. In addition to providing $120 million in annual bond revenue to clean up hazardous waste Hazardous waste Any solid, liquid, or gaseous waste materials that, if improperly managed or disposed of, may pose substantial hazards to human health and the environment. Every industrial country in the world has had problems with managing hazardous wastes. sites, the legislation establishes a comprehensive Brownfield Cleanup Program. Brownfields are typically abandoned commercial and industrial properties that contain some contamination that may affect their future productive use. They are usually found in cities and inner ring suburbs, and rural areas also contain sites. Once cleaned up to acceptable environmental standards--the property's future use will determine the necessary level of remediation--brownfields can become viable economic development centers, attracting growth that may otherwise spill out Verb 1. spill out - be disgorged; "The crowds spilled out into the streets" spill over, pour out pour, pullulate, swarm, teem, stream - move in large numbers; "people were pouring out of the theater"; "beggars pullulated in the plaza" onto the urban-rural fringe. New York's legislation addresses the three main obstacles to large-scale brownfield cleanup and redevelopment activities in the states: * Liability concerns of prospective property owners and developers. * Insufficient financial incentives to make the necessary cleanup and redevelopment investments. * Lack of specific requirements that allow sites to be cleaned up at different degrees based on future use. The legislation had strong bipartisan support, with Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli Thomas P. DiNapoli (born February 10, 1954) is the Comptroller of the state of New York. He is a former state assemblyman in New York, who was appointed as New York State Comptroller on February 7, 2007. , a Democrat, and Senator Carl Marcellino Carl L. Marcellino (born December 23, 1942) is a member of the New York State Senate. He represents the 5th Senate District which compromises parts of Nassau and Suffolk Counties in Long Island. Marcellino is a Republican who was first elected to the Senate in 1995. , a Republican, shepherding the bills through the process. DiNapoli, chair of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee, noted that the legislation will provide New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of with "a new framework to remediate contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. sites retaining the nation's most protective cleanup standards, while providing developers, municipalities and community-based organizations with a predictable process, financial incentives and liability relief. "By cleaning up brownfield sites and refinancing the state's Superfund program Noun 1. Superfund program - the federal government's program to locate and investigate and clean up the worst uncontrolled and abandoned toxic waste sites nationwide; administered by the Environmental Protection Agency; "some have intimated that the Superfund's money , not only will environmental threats be removed from communities throughout the state, but local economies will also be revitalized," he said. Marcellino, chair of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, was equally enthusiastic about the act's achievements, especially its economic development potential. "This legislation will get these urban eyesores back on the tax rolls and make them community assets rather than letting them eat away at the heart of our cities, towns and villages like cancer. By creating a Brownfield Cleanup Program and refinancing the state Superfund, we will promote the physical, economic and social revitalization of our communities," he said. WHAT THE ACT DOES: 1. Releases brownfield redevelopers from state liability for any subsequent contamination from the site once cleanup is complete. 2. Provides tax credits for: * Soil and groundwater clean-up. * Site redevelopment and job training costs. * Environmental remediation Generally, remediation means providing a remedy, so environmental remediation deals with the removal of pollution or contaminants from environmental media such as soil, groundwater, sediment, or surface water for the general protection of human health and the environment or from a insurance. 3. Provides grants to community-based organizations and municipalities to cover 90 percent of the costs for: * Planning. * Site assessments. * Clean-up activities. 4. Requires the property owner to transfer an environmental easement easement, in law, the right to use the land of another for a specified purpose, as distinguished from the right to possess that land. If the easement benefits the holder personally and is not associated with any land he owns, it is an easement in gross (e.g. to the state containing: * Restrictions on future land uses that may be incompatible with human health or the environment. * Controls to enforce the restrictions. |
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