Fact Sheet:
Clinton Administration Expands Brownfields

CLINTON ADMINISTRATION EXPANDS COMMITMENT
TO BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT

Vice President Gore today launched an expansion of the Clinton Administration's Brownfields Redevelopment Initiative, building upon the Administration's actions to revitalize America's communities. First, a new Brownfields National Partnership brings a wide array of new federal and private sector resources to help thousands of communities clean up and redevelop brownfields. This ongoing Partnership -- which also builds on the Administration's Community Empowerment Agenda -- will support communities and provide new tools for their use. Second, the latest round of EPA's brownfields redevelopment pilot project grants brings resources to an additional 34 communities to spur revitalization. Third, the Vice President called on Congress to pass the President's brownfields legislative package, which includes a tax incentive to encourage brownfields redevelopment.

1) New Brownfields National Partnership: This new two-year effort includes more than 100 commitments from more than 25 organizations -- including more than 15 federal agencies -- to further spur cleanup and redevelopment at some 5,000 brownfields sites around the U.S. The new partnership is expected to result in:

A $300 million federal investment in brownfields cleanup and redevelopment, along with an additional $165 million in loan guarantees to advance community revitalization;

Leveraging from $5 bilion up to $28 billion in private investment to redevelop these areas and return them to productive community use;

Support up to 196,000 new jobs;

Protection of up to 34,000 acres of undeveloped "greenfield" areas, and quality of life improvements for up to 18 million Americans living near these communities.

Under the new federal partnership, 15 federal agencies will provide:

Assessment, cleanup and job training funds ($125 million) from EPA; additional job training support from Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Education;

Redevelopment and housing funds ($155 million) and loan guarantees ($165 million) from the Department of Housing and Urban Development; redevelopment of distressed areas ($17 million) from the Economic Development Administration; coastal community revitalization ($900,000) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and surveys to speed federal property development ($1 million) from the General Services Administration.

In addition, HHS will work across the Administration to develop a public health policy to protect community residents near brownfields; Department of Treasury will work with Congress on the President's proposal for a $2 billion brownfields tax incentive; and EPA, Department of Justice and the states will collaborate to establish national guidelines for state voluntary cleanups.

To provide models for successful collaboration, the Administration will select 10 Brownfields Showcase Communities to demonstrate importance of cooperation among federal agencies, state and local governments and the private sector in cleaning up and revitalizing brownfields. The Administration will select these sites through a competitive process from among brownfield and empowerment community/enterprise zone sites across the country.

2) New Pilot Grants Provide More Communities with Seed Money to Spur Redevelopment: Building on the Clinton Administration's efforts since November 1993 to provide seed money to communities seeking to clean up and redevelop brownfields, the Vice President today announced an additional 34 grants of up to $200,000 to national or regional brownfields redevelopment pilot projects. To date, the Clinton Administration has awarded 113 such pilot projects totaling nearly $20 million to communities across the nation to help them restore abandoned industrial sites to new uses that revitalize both the environment and the economy in urban centers and surrounding communities. Each pilot project is expected to serve as a model for other communities to use in removing the barriers to cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields in a variety of settings.

3) A Call to Congress to Pass Brownfields Tax Incentive Legislation: The Vice President called on Congress to pass the President's brownfields legislative package, which includes a tax incentive to encourage brownfields redevelopment. President Clinton's FY 1998 balanced budget plan contains a targeted tax incentive to spur the private sector to clean up and redevelop brownfields in economically distressed rural and urban areas. This $2 billion tax incentive is expected to leverage $10 billion in private sector investment, helping to revitalize some 30,000 brownfields sites. Under the proposal, businesses would be able to expense the costs of cleaning up these properties in the year in which the costs are incurred, rather than capitalizing such costs of the life of the property. This tax proposal will provide significant financial incentives for the private sector to revitalize these areas.

Related Links:

• Press Release May 5, 1997
  [ HTML | PDF (8K) 2 Pages ]
• Administrator Browner's Comments
  [ HTML ]
• Brownfields National Partnership Action Agenda Menu
• National and Regional Pilot Fact Sheets