Peter D. Robertson Remarks, June 21, 1999,
U.S. Chamber of Commerce:
Turning Brownfields into Dreams

Peter D. Robertson
Acting Deputy Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Remarks Prepared for Delivery
U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Turning Brownfields into Dreamfields

Washington, D.C.
June 21, 1999
8:45 a.m.

Mr. Donahue, Distinguished Mayors, honored guests: I'm very pleased to be here with you to participate in this event and to speak about this Administration's brownfields program and livability agenda. I'm also very excited to be here, because so much can happen today under the roof of this historic building to help advance the course of sustainable development. What new partnerships will form over the next eight hours? What new deals will be discussed? What new ideas will emerge?

We owe this opportunity to the vision of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its partners. Such a simple idea to bring together mayors who want to transform the brownfields properties in their cities from urban blight to economic might, with developers and business people who are anxious to invest in the rising future of our nation's cities.

What happens here today will eventually produce a better life for many American people, more vibrant cities, and a cleaner, healthier environment.

I want to take just a moment to extend particular thanks to Tom Donahue and Chamber VP Bill Kovacs, to the Wadsworth Golf Charities, to Arthur Anderson, and to the other participating sponsors for turning talk into action.

Your timing could not have been better.

Just last week USA Today reported that communities across the country are facing a dilemma over how to meet the demand for playing space created by the growing number of young soccer players. According to the article, communities approved over 200 bond issues last November for the development of green spaces, with "at least two-thirds earmarked for recreational facilities, including soccer fields."

What a perfect use for some brownfields, and what a perfect way to add green space to our communities.

Now, of course kids aren't the only ones who like to play games. The National Golf Foundation estimates that about 50 courses have been constructed on brownfields, and that the number is likely to rise sharply in the coming years.

Golf Magazine recently reported on a plan to transform a former Bronx garbage heap known for being a haven for hot cars into a city-owned, $22 million, Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course.

At one of our Brownfields Pilots -- in Lowell, Massachusetts, which is well represented here today -- the new Tsongas Sports Arena will house hockey and other entertainments.

Success stories like these are being repeated all over the country.

The need for recreational facilities of every kind may turn out to be a significant component of brownfields redevelopment, and I can tell you that EPA is happy to be part of it.

The Clinton/Gore Administration is very proud of the incredible progress that we've made reclaiming and reusing American brownfields... and in such a short time. We're proud to be bringing life to our inner cities, to be replacing despair with jobs and hope.

You of course know the challenge we have faced and continue to face. Across the country, many properties that were once used for industrial, manufacturing, or other commercial uses now lie abandoned, and many are contaminated by hazardous substances. Developers, investors, and lenders who can see the opportunity these sites present are often prevented from moving forward because of the potential liability from the contamination.

Since 1995 EPA's Brownfields Program has been providing cities, states, and disadvantaged communities with the means to assess, safely clean up, and reuse these properties.

As I speak with you today in Washington, EPA Administrator Carol Browner is in New York, announcing that fifty-seven new communities have been selected as brownfields site assessment pilots.

Included in the 57 are 4 communities represented here today according to pre-registration. So at this time we should all congratulate the following Mayors: Mayor Jim Naugle of Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Mayor Bob Young of Augusta, GA (now there is a city that knows something about golf courses), Mayor Duane Dedelow of Hammond, IN and Mayor James Friedman of San Buenaventura, CA Let us give them a round of applause for these awards and embracing the idea of Brownfields Redevelopment.

Our staff should have contacted you this morning and is beginning the process of putting the grant in place. If you did not preregister for the conference and applied for a grant for this round, please find staff from EPA to see if you received a grant. We want everyone to get the news.

For these four communities here today and 53 others across the country, opportunity is knocking on the door. Brownfields site assessment pilots are a first step toward revitalizing communities and eliminating blight, decay, and despair. Mayor Dedelow of Hammond, Indiana, who's here today, knows what I'm talking about.

Mayor Dedelow's town will use its Brownfields Program funds to conduct assessments on properties surrounding George Lake.

Reuse plans for Hammond include affordable youth and adult golf courses, the protection of sensitive wooded uplands associated with migratory birds, and the enhancement of two lake basins for fishing and recreation.

In Anaheim, California, funds will be targeted toward end uses that include retail, residential, and recreation. In Ohio, Connecticut, New York, and New Mexico, efforts will focus on walking and bicycling trails, wildlife sanctuaries, and parks.

In Pennsylvania, and in Virginia, waterfront protection and restoration are at the top of the agenda. I want to recognize James May, Mayor of Uniontown, Alabama who is here today. Uniontown epitomizes the smallest of the small towns, which still faces brownfield problems.

And there's more. With this round of pilots, there will be a new focus on cultural reuse as a partner to recreational reuse. In North Dakota, the members of the community selected four abandoned sites that will be transformed into a museum, a senior community center and a greenhouse/nursery. The rural town of Haddam, Connecticut, will develop an artists cooperative, among other business uses.

As I list the pilot communities and their plans for the future, I hope you are as impressed as I am by the potential brownfields revitalization holds. Each of these communities' planned projects would be a great boon to quality of life and the local economy just on its own. But combine these projects with the fact that they are also repairing a blight -- ridding their communities of chain link fences, of signs warning "Keep Out!", of cracked asphalt, broken windows and abandoned buildings.

Including the assessment pilots to be announced today, EPA's direct investment in brownfields redevelopment is almost $70 million for over 300 communities. Our partnerships with these communities have helped leverage more than $1 billion in investment capital and created thousands of jobs.

We are proud of the progress we've made, but President Clinton and Vice President Gore know that we need to do even more for America's communities. They've created a comprehensive "Livability Agenda" to focus on essential quality-of-life issues. One tool they've proposed is Better America Bonds -- the simplest law Congress could write to do the greatest amount of good.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors overwhelmingly agreed that American communities need access to low-interest loans to help them redevelop brownfield sites or create greenspace and protect water sheds in their cities. Well, Better America Bonds take interest as low as it can go for the municipalities that issue them -- to zero.

With Better America Bonds, state, tribal and local governments or non-profits that partner with a government will be able to issue nearly $10 billion in bonds to clean up brownfields, preserve open space, and protect water quality. The issuer will never pay a dime in interest. Investors who buy the bonds receive tax credits equal to the interest they would have received on the bonds -- a total of $700 million over 5 years.

Bonding authority will be distributed directly to the communities through a competitive process, just like our successful Brownfields program.

Let me tell you what Better America Bonds is not: It is not a big government program. The federal government will not buy one square inch of land. All purchases will be made at the state or local level. We're not sticking our nose where it doesn't belong, we're just lending a hand where it's needed.

The year 2000 is now just 193 days away. Our cities and communities -- some with centuries of history already behind them -- need help if they are to thrive in the century to come.

This Administration thinks that Better America Bonds can give our communities the boost they need.

With Better America Bonds, we see children playing in the parks and greenspace that will sprout on these now idle and underused brownfield sites. And stands of trees saved from development will protect rivers and creeks for the wildlife that need them and the families that want to enjoy them.

Our states and communities will build this legacy themselves. We know that quality of life is always a local product -- it can't be manufactured in Washington and shipped out around the country. With Better America Bonds we're just handing communities the tools to turn idle brownfields into urban oases -- the very tools they have told us they need.

Our new emphasis on livability does not change our initial commitment through the Brownfields Program to create local jobs, build up local tax coffers, and strengthen local economies. Commercial and industrial reuse of the pilot efforts and job creation continue to be strong, unshakable themes.

The Clinton/Gore Administration recognizes that public funding will not be sufficient to solve this huge national need. Our brownfields program has been built on the foundation of sound public-private partnerships. I am talking about exactly the kinds of partnerships this forum is intended to foster.

Through our work with concerned partners such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and with communities all across the nation, EPA believes that our nation's cities can build the future they envision. Every day, EPA gets reports that demonstrate the results of these partnerships.

In the shadows of the gleaming glass skyscrapers of Dallas, residents are enjoying a new recreation center and looking forward to housing and shopping developments, a new environmental training and technology center, and nearly a thousand new jobs.

A $200,000 Brownfields Pilot grant from EPA, which was used to evaluate sites around the Dallas downtown for potential reuse, marked the beginning of a revitalization push that has attracted nearly $53 million to clean up and redevelop several properties.

EPA's Brownfields Pilot award in Buffalo enabled the city to target a former steel site that developers had avoided for more than a decade. Once the city and the site's former owners funded an $800,000 cleanup effort to remove oil-soaked dirt, a local bank funded construction of a new, $16 million, 763,000 square-foot greenhouse facility and 42,000 square-foot tomato packing plant. More than 175 new jobs were created at this facility, which now produces 120,000 pounds of hydroponic tomatoes per day.

Ask Mayor Joe Ganim about how the EPA Brownfields grant also helped transform an abandoned, dilapidated building located at the main gateway to Bridgeport, Connecticut. Visitors arriving via ferry, rail, or Interstate 95 were greeted by a view of the former Jenkins Valve Building, which exemplified Bridgeport's economic decline.

The Brownfields pilot's evaluation of the site spurred $14 million in private and public investment. The building was demolished, and the site is now home to a new 5,500-seat ballpark where the Bridgeport Bluefish play. And the Brownfield grant must have brought some magic with it, because when I last checked the Atlantic Leagues standings the Bluefish had a four game lead in first place.

I could go on and on, talking about the exemplary projects, deals, and partnerships that EPA has contributed to. But I'd rather that you talk with each other about the projects you want to build, the deals that would benefit your communities and businesses, the partnerships that can make brownfields redevelopment possible for you. I'm guessing that many a conversation today will start with the words, "What can we accomplish by working together?" So I'd like to end my remarks by asking, "What can't we accomplish by working together?"

I truly believe that nothing that would benefit our communities and the American people is beyond our reach if we work in partnership. Together we can truly turn Brownfields into American Dreamfields.

Thank you.

I'd now be happy to answer any questions you might have.