After more than ten years of building a brownfield redevelopment program, Cuyahoga County Officials are currently contemplating bringing the program to a close. Over the last few years significant staff cuts have reduced the amount of resources dedicated to the program. Now it appears that in 2017 the various incentives available to attract redevelopment to
State of Ohio Pursues Recovery of Incentives
Companies expanding onto brownfield sites need public incentives to make their projects viable. However, the days when cleanup of contamination by itself could attract public incentives are long over. Under the new local and State brownfield programs companies must make job commitments and/or improvements to the property to attract government assistance.
When companies work with
Like Ohio, TCE Gets Attention in Massachusetts
Ohio is not the only state that is reviewing all sites that have trichloroethylene (TCE) contamination. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) recently announced that is was going to review 1,000 closed sites with TCE contamination. MassDEP will evaluate the sites "based on the current understanding of health risks, even if the site was previously
What Ohio Can Learn from the New Kansas Brownfield Law
In my four part blog post series- Rethinking Brownfield Redevelopment in Ohio- the final post advocated for a new Ohio liability protection law for buyers of contaminated property. The new law would provide brownfield redevelopers liability protection faster and at a lower cost than the current Ohio Voluntary Action Program (VAP).
I suggested looking to
Rethinking Brownfield Redevelopment in Ohio: Part 4 of 4
This is the final post discussing the current state of brownfield redevelopment in Ohio. It provides suggested changes to the regulations and incentives in Ohio to accelerate brownfield redevelopment. The prior posts in this series discussed the following:
- The Issues Presented by Brownfields- In particular the impact to Urban Centers
- The Current State of Brownfield
Rethinking Brownfield Redevelopment in Ohio- Part 3 of 4
This is the third post in a series of four assessing the current state of brownfield redevelopment in the State of Ohio. This third post will evaluate the progress Ohio has made in the last twenty years with regard to addressing brownfields.
Current Options for Addressing Environmental Liability
As discussed extensively in the prior posts
Rethinking Brownfield Redevelopment in Ohio- Part 2 of 4
This second post in the series discussing brownfield redevelopment in Ohio will provide an overview of the extent and nature of Ohio’s brownfield problem. First, the post will discuss Ohio’s progress in spurring brownfield versus greenfield redevelopment. Second, the post will provide an overview of public information regarding the number of brownfields in Ohio
Rethinking Brownfield Redevelopment in Ohio – Part 1 of 4
Two weeks ago I participated in the Ohio Brownfields Conference in Columbus, Ohio. 2016 marks the twentieth (20th) anniversary of Ohio’s Voluntary Action Program (VAP) which is implemented by Ohio EPA and is the primary regulatory program for cleanup of brownfields.
To mark the anniversary, Ohio EPA encouraged presenters to reflect on the success
Applications Released for $20 Million Dollar Abandoned Gas Station Grant Fund
The Ohio Development Services Agency has announced that it is now accepting application for the Abandoned Gas Station Cleanup Grant Program. Eligible activities include $100,000 for assessment and up to $500,000 for cleanup.
The program targets abandoned gas stations and cleanup of underground storage tanks (UST). To be eligible, the tank must be
State Poised to Accept Grant Applications for Gas Station Cleanups
This Fall the Ohio Development Services Agency (ODSA) announced program implementation details for the newly created $20 million dollar Abandoned Service Station Fund. ODSA sent out an announcement to contacts that it would likely begin accepting applications winter, however, to date the ODSA has yet to begin accepting applications. ODSA developed the program in conjunction