Get Your Priorities Straight

By Robert V. Colangelo

In 1997, Brownfield News looked at the Big Seven — Council of State Governments, International City/County Management Association (ICMA),  National Association of Counties, National Conference of State Legislatures, National Governors Association, National League of Cities and U.S. Conference of Mayors — whose collective membership consists of the major representatives of public interest groups from state, county and local governments.

We asked each of these seven organizations where brownfields fit into their agenda. In 1997 the key issues that topped the Big Seven’s list of priorities included Internet taxation, the Clean Air Act, welfare to work programs, highway legislation and unfunded mandates. Life sure looked simpler back then compared to their priorities today, such as homeland security, energy, taxes and health care.

We were baffled back then that collectively brownfields were not a high priority. The reason — with the organizations’ different personalities, a limited amount of issues have commonality. This is a powerful coalition that can benefit from the successful redevelopment of brownfields as they would each share in the incremental increase of taxes that are generated from putting these properties back into productive use and improve the quality of life for their constituents.

Last month we contacted each organization again to see where brownfields fit in their priorities. Most of the organizations did not get back to us. Some that did told us it was not a priority issue for them. We did some research and found that only ICMA, the National Conference of State Legislatures and the U.S. Conference of Mayors consider brownfields an important enough issue to include it on their Web sites.

NBA Goes to Congress

This September I, along with several members of the NBA, had the opportunity to participate in a congressional hearing held by the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Federalism and the Census, chaired by Mike Turner, a congressman from Ohio. The purpose of this hearing was to examine how states administer their brownfield programs and if existing state incentive programs are sufficient to solve the nation’s brownfield problem.

In conjunction with the hearing, the NBA released phase one of its brownfield program and voluntary cleanup program analysis, “What Works: An Analysis of State Brownfield Voluntary Cleanup Programs.”

Congressman Turner was formerly the mayor of Dayton, Ohio, and understands firsthand the many benefits that can be derived from the redevelopment of brownfields. In addition to creating tax revenues, these sites produce jobs and fuel growth for the brownfield industry. The factories that built the American economy can once again create jobs for a new breed of Americans who demolish, remediate and rebuild futures on the perspiration stains of our industrial past.

I commend this subcommittee and Congressman Turner for exploring government incentives to attract private sector investment, especially when other priorities, such as the Iraq war and the hurricane relief effort, dominate the attention of many in congress. I challenge each of our readers to consistently educate the members of the Big Seven and Congress to show them why brownfield redevelopment needs to be a priority issue. We need more sympathetic public officials in all levels of government to support our efforts. To this end we have dedicated this conference issue to the brownfield market. BFN

Enjoy the Read!
Robert V. Colangelo
Publisher