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With expanding suburbs of both New York and Philadelphia and vibrant economic sectors like pharmaceuticals, development pressure in New Jersey is intense. New Jersey is a classic “rust belt” state with large numbers of industrial brownfield sites. Thus, it is not surprising that New Jersey has been at the forefront of brownfield redevelopment policy, establishing its Brownfields Statute in 1998. New Jersey’s brownfield development program continues to evolve in ways that will further encourage both parcel redevelopment and community revitalization. A policy directive issued in November 2002 creates review panels to expedite final cleanup decisions. This directive also establishes an Office of Brownfield Reuse to work with municipal and state officials, as well as community and environmental leaders, to identify and develop new projects. Finally, the directive creates an area-wide brownfield program—the Brownfield Development Area Initiative (“BDAI”)—to facilitate planning and redevelopment for larger geographic areas where there are a high concentration of brownfield sites.
Financial Incentives
New Jersey’s Brownfields Statute provides financial incentives for redevelopment through the Brownfield Site Reimbursement Fund. The Fund reimburses private developers for up to 75 percent of cleanup costs if the developer enters into a redevelopment agreement with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The taxes generated from the redevelopment provide the funds for reimbursement. The brownfield statute also offers tax exemptions for up to 15 years for sites located in Environmental Opportunity Zones. In addition, the Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund provides grants and loans of up to two million dollars per year to municipalities for preliminary assessment, site investigation, and for remediation. Another statute also providing financial incentives for some brownfield redevelopment is the 1993 Environmental Opportunity Zone Act (“EOZA”), which allows tax abatements for projects within designated areas.
State Flexibility and Oversight
Site cleanup requirements are determined on a site-specific basis by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). New Jersey’s brownfield statute has three clearly-defined cleanup levels: restricted use (requires the continued use of institutional and engineering controls to meet the established health risk or environmental standards), limited restricted use (allows use of institutional controls such as deed restrictions, but no engineering controls, such as capping), and unrestricted use (requires the most stringent cleanup to health-based standard). The Industrial Site Recovery Act of 1993 further mandates that contamination left on a redeveloped site may not exceed an excess cancer risk of one in one million. Most of New Jersey’s financial incentives incorporate a “preference for permanence in site remedial activities” by requiring that the cleanup meet unrestricted use or limited restricted use requirements.
Promotion of Public/Private Partnerships and Community-Based Planning
New Jersey has recently instituted the Brownfield Development Area Initiative (BDAI), administered through the Office of Brownfield Reuse. Since many brownfields in New Jersey are clustered in the State’s major urban cities, a site-by-site redevelopment approach may not meet the complex needs of these areas. This program is based on the acknowledgement that urban communities, in particular, need a more aggressive redevelopment approach because of the location, contamination levels and size of their brownfields have not yet attracted adequate private developer attention. Consequently, the BDAI allows a community to apply for state financial assistance and cleanup oversight for redevelopment of brownfields within a designated urban area. The BDAI thus provides the framework and resources to “empower affected neighborhoods” to address the obstacles to redevelopment and revitalization of these communities. It does so through close coordination of, and collaboration with, involved public agencies— including the Economic Development Authority (EDA) and the office of Smart Growth (OSG)—private developers and communities/neighborhoods directly affected by the brownfield sites.
Reflecting BDAI’s reliance on extensive community involvement is the application process for participation in the program. The application for participation in the program must be made by a steering committee composed of persons or groups that are representative of the community and that have the leadership capacity to bring the BDA project through to completion. Such representative stakeholders include neighborhood organizations, community groups, environmental groups, local business and resident leaders, property owners and stakeholders from the municipality. The application also requires evidence of support from local community members, community or civic organizations, and the local governing body.
The NJDEP undertakes a broad remediation and reuse assessment of the brownfields properties and the needs of the affected community when proceeding under the BDAI. This assessment includes a brief history of the area (useful for considering past activities that led to the contamination), population demographics (including race, income, education, unemployment), the means of transportation available, green and open space inventory, housing and economic activity (useful for determining future use in line with current and historical use), and cultural and public assets (such as museums, churches, etc). The BDAI also requires applicants to provide a description of benefits awarded to the community through brownfield redevelopment. These benefits include, but are not limited to, environmental benefits (such as those to the air, water and property quality), improvements to existing neighborhood landscape and infrastructure, public health benefits, and economic benefits (such as jobs to community citizens and the creation of a larger tax base in the community). According to the NJDEP, the BDAI is the “tool to remediate and revitalize communities and neighborhoods, not just individual properties.”
Community Outreach
Much of the community outreach that is part of the BDAI also influences other aspects of New Jersey’s brownfield program. The NJDEP often requests that steering committees, composed of potentially responsible parties and affected communities, be convened to assess the best reuse of the site. The NJDEP maintains close ties with municipalities and the public, mindful of the fact that if the community is against the activities on a site, redevelopment can be slowed down. Toward this end, when analyzing the potential reuse of any brownfield site (not just those in the BDAI) before granting its approval, the NJDEP considers various community concerns such as the creation of open space and recreational facilities for community residents. NJDEP also maintains a website that contains information on brownfield sites in the state, and includes contact information for each site.
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