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Vol. 8 - No. 4
April 2003
THE GREEN SHEET
Environmental Advocates of New York's Statewide
Bulletin Board
Copies of The Green Sheet can be downloaded free of
charge at
http://www.eany.org.
BUILDING ON BROWNFIELDS
Despite
the dire revenue crisis facing New York, significant
environmental progress can still be made in Albany
this year. To the surprise of many, the effort to save
the state's Superfund toxic site cleanup program and
develop comprehensive legislation to address thousands
of brownfields is closer to resolution than ever
before. Defined for years as a battle over cleanup
standards between the state Assembly and Gov. George
Pataki, the Senate has become an independent force in
the debate by passing its own Superfund/brownfields
bill.
The new bill, S. 2935 sponsored by Sen. Carl
Marcellino, combines breakthrough ideas and the best
of earlier bills from both Houses to earn the highest
rating of support - 3 Trees - from Environmental
Advocates of New York. The bill, which passed the
Senate on March 19, has also been endorsed by the New
York City Environmental Justice Alliance, Scenic
Hudson, the New York League of Conservation Voters,
Environmental Defense and the Conference of Mayors.
Key to moving the Senate beyond legislation developed
several years ago by a Pataki-appointed task force,
was the pragmatic recognition that urban brownfields
are depressing New York's economic recovery. Virtually
every environmental group in the state opposed the
"pave and wave" approach of the Governor's bill, which
would leave too much contamination in the ground,
threatening public health and groundwater. To win
environmental support, the Senate crafted legislation
that would achieve the highest feasible cleanups while
developing an approach to community planning around
contaminated sites that would lead municipalities and
developers to undertake thoughtful redevelopment
projects. Along with the standards, the Senate bill
has economic incentives for community involvement in
the redesign of neglected, urban neighborhoods.
Remarkably, the Senate gives real opportunities for
not-for-profit community organizations, as it does for
private developers, to redevelop urban communities.
An expanded version of an Assembly
Superfund/brownfields bill is expected to be
introduced very soon. At that time, advocates will be
urging the two Houses to form a conference committee
to work out their differences so that New York will at
last have a reauthorized Superfund program and a
comprehensive approach to the cleanup of brownfields. |