NAR applauds passage of brownfields legislation

The National Association of Realtors in December 2001 applauded Congress for passing brownfields legislation that will foster the clean-up and redevelopment of thousands of old industrial sites.

Brownfields are defunct, derelict, or abandoned commercial or industrial sites. Many of them are tainted with tox-ic wastes. Liability concerns and a lack of adequate resources and funding have been obstacles to the successful redevelopment of most projects.

According to an NAR news release, the U.S. General Accounting Office be-lieves there may be more than 500,000 brownfields across the country.

The bill that Congress passed gives states and localities up to $250 million a year for five years to clean up polluted industrial sites. It also shields developers from liability for toxic wastes that existed at a site prior to the developers' purchase of the property.

NAR has been an ardent supporter of brownfields legislation for many years, and passage of this legislation was a top priority for Realtors.

"We're thrilled that Congress has finally passed brownfields legislation, which represents a major victory for Realtors everywhere. This much-needed legislation will help the real estate industry ef-fectively clean up and redevelop hundreds of thousands of brownfield sites," said NAR President Martin Edwards Jr. "Cleaning-up hazardous waste sites and redeveloping them for commercial and residential use makes good sense for the environment, good sense for the economy and good sense for communities."

NAR commended Reps. Paul Gillmor, R-Ohio, and Frank Pallone, D-New Jer-sey, chairman and ranking member, re-spectively, of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materi-als for introducing H.R. 2869, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. The as-sociation also applauded Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, as well as House Energy and Commerce Com-mittee Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-Louis-iana, and Ranking Member John Ding-ell, D-Michigan, for their leadership on this issue, Edwards said.

The House bill was modeled after S. 350, the Brownfields Revitalization and Environmental Restoration Act, which passed the Senate 99-0 last April, thanks to Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Members Bob Smith, R-New Hampshire, Harry Reid, D-Nevada, Lin-coln Chaffee, R-Rhode Island and Barbara Boxer, D-California, NAR stated.

NAR also recognized Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Jim Jeffords, I-Vermont, for his leadership in pushing the final bill through the Senate, and congratulated President Bush for his commitment to signing the bill into law, Edwards said.

This legislation provides liability relief for innocent property owners who have not caused or contributed to hazardous waste contamination, increases funding for the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated sites, and recognizes the finality of successful state hazardous waste cleanup efforts under state brownfield programs. It also extends protection from legal and financial liabilities to pro-spective purchasers and developers who undertake cleanup projects.

The practice of reclaiming brownfields for residential and commercial development is widely cheered by environmentalists, developers, civic and political leaders, urban theorists and academics as well as real estate brokers and managers. Brownfields often cluster near prime real estate and already have easy access to existing infrastructure, labor and other resources.

Typically, such sites contribute immediately to creating jobs, increasing the tax base, easing traffic congestion, justifying investments in mass transit and providing new housing.

"Realtors are committed to smart growth, and you can't get much smarter growth than turning abandoned industrial sites into productive, multi-use properties," Edwards said.