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This legislation will help Florida brownfields, like this former golf course in West Palm Beach, be redeveloped.

By Roger Register
Springtime has arrived in Tallahassee and the Florida Legislature has convened. Two bills are under consideration that will further enhance the economic incentives of the Brownfield Redevelopment Act.

The Senate Environmental Preservation Committee researched and prepared an interim report — number 2005-152, Review of the Brownfield Redevelopment Act — during the past year. The interim report recommended a number of changes to Florida statutes regarding brownfield redevelopment and incentives.
Senate Bill 1448 and its companion bill, House Bill 1857, introduced legislation that implements recommendations of the committee.

Specifically, the changes, if approved, will:

Increase the amount of tax credit, from 35 to 40 percent, that may be applied against intangible personal property tax and corporate income tax for the voluntary cleanup costs that are integral to site rehabilitation performed at a brownfield or dry-cleaning site.
Increase the amount that may be received by the taxpayer (applicant) in the final year of the cleanup, from $50,000 to $250,000, as incentive to complete the cleanup.
Increase the amount of the brownfield loan guarantee from 10 to 25 percent.
Require Enterprise Florida, Inc., to aggressively market brownfields.
Repeal the Brownfield Property Ownership Clearance Assistance Program and the Brownfield Property Ownership Clearance Assistance Revolving Loan Trust Fund.

The year is definitely shaping up as an important and productive year for the Brownfields Redevelopment Pro-gram. The blossoms have bloomed and only time will tell whether the trees will bear fruit. To learn more about the proposed legislation, see www.leg.state.fl.us. BFN

Roger Register is brownfields liaison for the Florida DEP.

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