Political Quotes

“While I am pleased that Congress has chosen to address the important issue of brownfields reform, I am concerned that the House has not chosen to fully address liability protection for all brownfields sites. While H.R. 2869 is a first step in addressing brownfields reform, the legislation lacks a critical component that will prevent the clean up and redevelopment of brownfields on a meaningful scale. H.R. 2869 does not include federal liability protections for the clean up of petroleum-contaminated sites under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. By not addressing petroleum liability, half of the brownfields sites in this country have the potential to remain undeveloped under H.R. 2869. EPA has estimated that 200,000 of the 500,000 brownfields sites in the country are petroleum based. It is probably safe to say that almost every congressional district has an abandoned gas station that could be remediated and redeveloped. However, developers will not likely tackle these projects. Redevelopment of brownfields presents an opportunity to combine Smart Growth principals with economic development.”