Governor M. Jodi Rell signed a pair of bills designed to expand the state’s brownfields development program by providing more opportunities for regional projects, establishing new sources of funding and offering tax incentives if developers adhere to a state-approved remediation plan.
Brownfields are former factory, mill and other contaminated sites that can be brought back into productive use after environmental remediation.
“Brownfields remediation is much more than cleaning up an old industrial lot. It is about revitalizing neighborhoods, creating jobs and boosting the local economy,” Governor Rell said during a bill signing at Waterbury brownfields site.
House Bill 5383 provides for the formation of regional economic development districts, allowing a region to apply for federal funds for brownfields redevelopment, and went into effect July 1, 2010.
House Bill 5436, An Act Concerning Brownfield Remediation Liability, expands the scope of several brownfields clean-up programs and establishes a working group to study brownfields issues. It allows municipalities to forgive back taxes on contaminated property if a developer agrees on a state-approved remediation plan. The legislation also allows the Department of Economic and Community Development commissioner to use funds from one brownfields program to help support two new ones.
The funding provision takes effect October 1, 2010.
