Brownfields development gets boost

(May 16, 2006) The legislature took several major steps this year to boost the redevelopment of brownfields and other contaminated properties through improved regulatory flexibility, state coordination and broader accessibility to funds.

HB-5685 provides new liability protections to towns and property owners. Towns or their development agencies receiving funds under the program will be designated as “innocent parties.” And those who acquire property that a town or its development agency has cleaned up according to Department of Environmental Protection standards will be protected.

Owners of manufacturing facilities will be able to qualify for state clean-up funds if their property is a brownfield under federal law and they can show either that they did not contaminate the property or did so without knowingly causing injury to human health or the environment and were never found guilty of knowingly or willfully violating environmental law.

The bill also establishes an Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development within the Department of Economic and Community Development to help towns identify, clean up, and redevelop brownfield sites.

The new office will be funded under existing available appropriations plus a new account to be funded by 80% of the proceeds from the sale of any property cleaned up by towns under the program.

Finally, the act establishes a temporary, nine-member task force to develop long-term solutions for promoting the cleaning up of brownfields.

Another redevelopment related bill, SB-285, adds flexibility to the state’s Property Transfer Act by allowing the DEP commissioner or a licensed environmental professional to approve the remediation and transfer of a portion of affected properties prior to the entire property being remediated, as is currently required.

In addition, SB-285 exempts from the Transfer Act properties that would otherwise only be subject to it because of the presence of “universal wastes.” These wastes include batteries, pesticides, thermostats, lamps, and used electronics as defined by state regulation and federal law.