Article entitled “Restoring Nature While Building” by Patrick Sisson appeared in the Square Feet column on in the Commercial Real Estate page of the March 16, 2022 New York Times.

This caught our eye: “People don’t have to use the word ‘sustainability” anymore because it’s expected, said Charles A. Birnbaum, founder and president of the Cultural Landscapes Foundation, and education and advocacy group.  “People expect a level of performance from their landscapes. There is a power of place there waiting to be unlocked.”

This information appealed to us because we have been looking for data on the positive financial impacts of green space on developments.   “A series of trends have made these projects more valuable, said Matt Norris, director of the Building Healthy Places Initiative at the Urban Land Institute.  For residents, the health benefits of outdoor access are more apparent, especially in the pandemic.  For developers, offices and homes next to parks can accrue up to 20 percent more value, and added green space can help projects earn community support and even unlock zoning incentives.”

Posted March 18, 2022

By Kirstyn Brendlen, Brooklyn Paper (NY)

Cleanup is moving along at the former NuHart Plastic Manufacturing plant in Greenpoint as a developer prepares to build two mixed-use buildings on the heavily contaminated lot.

The western half of the 1-acre site, located between Dupont, Franklin, and Clay streets, was named to the state Superfund list in 2010 after potentially-hazardous chemicals were discovered in the soil, left over from nearly 50 years of plastic and vinyl production at the NuHart factory, which closed in 2004. Last year, Madison Realty Capital started taking ownership of the plot after its old owner filed for bankruptcy protection. Taking over NuHart West also means taking responsibility for the Superfund activities deemed necessary by the state, and Madison also applied for and began a Brownfield cleanup of NuHart East.

…

For the entire article, see

https://www.brooklynpaper.com/cleanup-nuhart-plastics-ahead-new-construction/

Posted March 17, 2022

Day Pitney Author(s) Harold M. BlindermanElizabeth C. BartonBrianna E. TibettTaylor C. Amato

As of March 4, the Release Reporting Regulations, Sections 22a-450-1 through 22a-450-6 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies (hereinafter referred to as the Spill Reporting Regulations), are in effect.

As reviewed in a prior alert, the Spill Reporting Regulations define when and how releases of oil or petroleum; chemical liquids; solid, liquid or gaseous products; or hazardous waste (collectively, referred to as reportable materials) must be reported to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), and they also define what information must be included in any report. There are three categories of release thresholds that will trigger reporting requirements: (1) releases of 5 gallons or more of oil and petroleum; (2) any quantity of certain high-risk releases (i.e., releases that enter the waters of the state, a wetland or a storm sewer, etc.) and releases of materials of special concern as outlined in Appendix A of the Spill Reporting Regulations; and (3) releases of 1.5 gallons or 10 pounds or more of all other reportable materials not covered by (1) or (2). A flowchart available on DEEP's website illustrates when reporting of a release of reportable materials is required.

Read more...

Posted March 14, 2022

By Bill Wilkins, New York Daily News

Thirty-two years ago, my wife and I made the decision to buy a home and raise our family in East New York — a community where she grew up, at the time considered a low-income area with not much hope of economic revival or prosperity. Since then, we have raised three great kids, two of whom have earned graduate degrees from top universities. And as the director of economic development and housing for the local development corporation serving the area’s industrial base, I’ve seen how a thriving local economy can lift nearby families and move a community from poverty to prosperity — but only after the remnants of past pollution have been removed from the area.

Read more...

Posted March 5, 2022

by John Hickey, Buffalo News

New York State needs to renew its brownfield cleanup program, an environmental reclamation effort that has prepared the ground for millions of dollars’ worth of development in Western New York and across the state. What is not needed is an onerous application fee.

Gov. Kathy Hochul smartly included a 10-year extension of the brownfield program in her proposed budget, but the language includes a proposed $50,000 application fee. The existing law imposes no such expense.

Read more...

Posted March 3, 2022

An article in the March 2022 edition of New Jersey Business Magazine featured NJDEP's Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette, who discussed the brownfield site inventory. You can find the article on pages 38-43 at the following link: https://editions.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?m=18790&i=738649&p=40&ver=html5

Thank you to New Jersey Business Magazine and our friends at the Licensed Site Remediation Professionals Association (LSRPA) for sharing this information.

Posted March 1, 2022

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael S. Regan announced that President Biden has appointed Dr. David Cash to become EPA’s Regional Administrator for Region 1.  Dr. Cash will lead the implementation of the Biden-Harris environmental agenda in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and in 10 Tribal Nations. Dr. Cash’s appointment began on February 7, 2022.

“Dr. Cash brings deep experience in environmental policy, equity, and economic justice. I know he will ensure voices throughout Region 1 are heard on key issues,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Dr. Cash has hit the ground running and I’m very excited to welcome him to the team.”

“I am deeply honored to serve as the EPA Region 1 Administrator, to champion the bold climate, environment and justice agenda of the Biden-Harris Administration and EPA Administrator Regan,” said Dr. Cash. “I eagerly anticipate working with the world-class staff at EPA, elected and state officials and Tribes, as well as engaging all New England communities, especially those most vulnerable and historically overburdened. Given my conviction that wise and equitable environmental policy goes hand-in-hand with robust economic policy, together we can solve our most pressing environmental challenges while creating jobs, leaving clean air and water to our children, and crafting a just transition to a clean energy future.”

Dr. Cash has spent his career in public service harnessing science, innovative policy and participatory decision-making to solve challenges and seize opportunities at the intersection of environment, economy and equity. In his most recent position, Dr. Cash was the Dean of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He spent a decade in Massachusetts state government where he held a range of senior positions. As Assistant Secretary of Policy in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs in Governor Deval Patrick's Administration, he was an architect of nation-leading climate, clean energy and environmental justice policies. All of these initiatives were grounded in the notion that wise environmental policy, economic policy and policies for equity can and should go hand-in-hand. Dr. Cash then served as a Commissioner in the Department of Public Utilities, followed by serving as the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection. With this rare experience of being both an environment and an energy commissioner, he had the unique perspective of understanding the importance of breaking down silos and focusing on complex issues in much more comprehensive and integrative ways. In these roles, he collaborated in government and with communities and the private sector to craft and implement innovative science-based policies around climate, environmental justice, energy, job creation, water, land use, waste management, and grid modernization. Dr. Cash holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He and his wife Annie Weiss, a psychotherapist, live in the Boston area and have two young adult daughters.

Posted February 25, 2022

The LSPA Regulations Committee is working with NAIOP - the Massachusetts Commercial Real Estate Development Association, to identify examples of brownfield projects that have encountered difficulties getting adequate tax credits, relative to what the state has historically provided. This is part of an effort to assess how the July 2021 regulations and administrative procedures to the brownfields tax credit program are working.

Specifically, we are looking for three types of situations.

1. Projects that may have been approved in the past but now are not. These might include dig and haul projects that involved both the excavation of contaminated soil to achieve MCP closure and excavation for the purpose of building a subsurface parking garage; or projects where Historic Fill was the primary contaminant that was addressed simultaneously under the MCP and by doing the construction. 
2. Projects where MassDOR is questioning the LSP’s site decisions; for example, suggesting that certain actions weren’t needed or that an AUL would have been sufficient for closure. 
3. Projects where brownfields tax credits are critical for the project’s pro forma, but where MassDOR denies those credits. For example, in the case of community development corporations and other non-profits, that often pull together their financing from multiple sources with almost no cushion should anything in the pro forma not materialize.  

Please contact Lisa Campe, LSP, Woodard & Curran, at lcampe@woodardcurran.com, 781-613-0586 (office), or 781-929-4740 (cell) if you have any project experiences you are willing to share.

Posted February 24, 2022

Designation meant to speed up revitalization in neighborhood affected by pollution, disinvestment

Steve Hughes, Albany Times-Union (NY)

The state declared 106 acres in Sheridan Hollow a Brownfield Opportunity Area, which is meant to help the city's revitalization efforts in the neighborhood.

The Affordable Housing Partnership of the Capital Region pushed the nomination that led to the state's declaration, announced on Tuesday. The area's boundaries are Clinton Avenue, Pearl Street, Elk Street and Lexington Avenue.

Susan Cotner, the partnership's executive director, said the designation was the result of years of working that involved community meetings and researching the area's history. The partnership is located in Sheridan Hollow.

…

For the entire article, see

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Sheridan-Hollow-declared-a-Brownfield-Opportunity-16921228.php

Posted February 21, 2022

The Murphy Administration is making it easier to identify once contaminated and blighted properties that present unique opportunities for economic development and environmental improvement. In collaboration with the Department of Community Affairs and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the Department of Environmental Protection has enhanced its Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping application, creating a Brownfields Inventory mapping layer that makes valuable information about brownfields sites easily accessible, helping investors, developers, community leaders, Licensed Site Remediation Professionals (LSRPs), and the public identify brownfields with redevelopment potential.

Cleaning and redeveloping brownfields can help to revitalize neighborhoods, improve public safety, create jobs, enhance the tax base, establish open space, and catalyze regional growth. Every brownfield remediation is restoring injured natural resources and helping to preserve resources within greenfields and woodlands that are providing valuable services to the public and might otherwise be developed.

“Brownfields place a tremendous economic, environmental, and public health burden on communities. This mapping enhancement will help people identify where brownfields are located and what government programs exist to help remediate the contaminated sites in the hopes of encouraging investment to bring these properties back to their full potential usage,” said Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver, who also serves as Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs. “Revitalizing these sites is not only good for the economy, but it is helping clean up decades of misuse and abuse in our most disadvantaged neighborhoods.”

“Every brownfield site that is cleaned up and redeveloped represents an investment in both the economic and environmental health of our communities,” said Commissioner of Environmental Protection Shawn M. LaTourette. “Viewing environmental improvements as sound investments has positioned DEP to drive economic growth in communities across New Jersey, and this new tool will better enable those in both the private and public sectors to join us in enhancing our residents’ quality of life, especially in our urban and underserved communities.”

“Governor Phil Murphy recognizes the value of remediation and redevelopment of brownfield sites as an essential element of smart planning that will advance a stronger fairer New Jersey economy,” said NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan. “The comprehensive suite of technological and financial tools the NJEDA and its partners at the Department of Community Affairs and Department of Environmental Protection will amplify the economic and environmental impact of the State’s investment, revitalizing dormant sites and driving job creation through productive reuse of long inactive properties.”

Based on information accessible through DEP records and available through the DEP Brownfields Program and the DCA New Jersey Community Asset Map, the Brownfields Inventory GIS layer provides details on potential target sites, including acreage, cleanup status, and property owner contact information. At present, the tool includes sites located in municipalities participating in DEP’s Community Collaborative Initiative (CCI): Camden, Trenton, Perth Amboy, Bayonne, Bridgeton, Jersey City, Millville, Newark, Paterson, Paulsboro, Salem, and Vineland. DEP intends to include opportunities in additional municipalities in future versions of the tool.

As defined by state law, brownfield sites are abandoned, idled, or underused industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. Many cities have numerous brownfield sites within their borders but don’t have capacity or awareness on how to identify and market them. Developers are interested in finding brownfield opportunities but previously had no mechanism to find them unless they were being advertised by a commercial realtor. This GIS enhancement will fill this void.

In addition, Licensed Site Remediation Professionals, who are responsible for the investigation and remediation of thousands of sites across the state, will be able to supply important information on brownfield sites to their clients, whether a municipality or redeveloper, raising the level of awareness of redevelopment opportunities. The LSRP will also be able to access the CCI representative in the city of interest.

The CCI program supports environmental and community revitalization, equitable economic development, and enhanced public health outcomes in designate communities. A DEP liaison works closely with these underserved cities to build relationships and better understand the specific needs of their assigned city.

The NJEDA recently announced that it is accepting applications for the new Brownfields Impact Fund, which provides grant funding and low-interest loans to public sector and non-profit organizations, as well as low-interest loans to for-profit organizations, to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites throughout the state.

While applicants from any city can now apply, only applicants with projects located in the 12 CCI communities will be considered for the first 90 days the application is available. After April 20, applications from non-CCI communities will also be considered. The application and more information are available at https://www.njeda.com/brownfieldsimpactfund

The program is first-come, first-served, with consideration given to the CCI communities for the first 90 days the application is available.

Posted February 17, 2022