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
Any business spending money on an environmental investigation or on clean up at property they own examine closely a federal tax incentive which is set to expire December 31, 2009. The incentive allows environmental clean up costs to be fully deductible in the year they are incurred, rather than having to be capitalized and spread over a
After reauthorization of the Clean Ohio program this November by Ohio Voters, the State has announced their intention to maintain two grant funding rounds per year going forward. Hopefully this will allow the program to operate more consisentely. In the past, project developers were often forced to try and rush projects because future funding rounds were
With very little fanfare, the Department of Commerce put on their web page two documents that change the policy interpretations of the prevailing wage requirements. The "policy interpretation" is controversial. As reported in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Republican controlled House and Senate will likely be discussing ways to block the change.
What are Prevailing Wage laws? To offset the low bid public contract requirement, the ""prevailing wage" law requires wages commonly paid to construction workers in a particular region will determine the minimum wage paid to the same type of workers employed on publicly funded construction projects. (For additional background view the extended entry below)
The Strickland Administration is claiming that the release of the Commerce Department’s new guidance document on prevailing wage is a "simple clarification" of existing law. The spokesman for the Governor said the law was simply "misapplied" to two situations, one of which is brownfield redevelopment projects. However, many view it as a broad expansion of the applicability of prevailing wage that could drive up construction costs.
Strickland Administration Frames the Debate: "In recent years there has been no clear approach used by the Department when determining whether publicly-funded construction activity is so intertwined with private construction activity that the activity constitutes a single "project" (triggering prevailing wage) and when they are sufficiently "separate and unrelated" that they constitute separate projects, one publicly supported (which triggers prevailing wage) and one privately financed (which does not trigger prevailing wage).
THE ISSUE: When a Clean Ohio grant pays for remediation work and demolition but the rest of the project development is privately financed, then what portion is covered by prevailing wage?
FROM ADMINISTRATION’S NEW POLICY STATEMENT: Whenever a public entity contributes funding or other direct support (e.g.-public land) to a project, even an otherwise privately-financed project, prevailing wage must be paid to the workers on the project.
RAMIFICATION ON BROWNFIELD REDEVELOPMENT PROJECTS: Under the Administration’s new policy, prevailing wage will apply to all construction work at a site receiving Clean Ohio funds whenever an end-user is identified. Therefore, if the Clean Ohio grant application includes a commitment to use the site by a new tenant or developer, prevailing wage applies to all construction at the site work. If no end-user is identified in the application, prevailing wage only applies to remediation work at the site.
DISCUSSION: It simply is a false distinction to apply prevailing wage on the basis of whether an end user has been identified. Under Clean Ohio guidelines, grant funds can only pay for :
The Clean Ohio guidelines forbid expenditure on building improvements or infrastructure improvements. If it is illegal to use to program funds for this work, how can prevailing wage be deemed to apply?
Developers will have to run the numbers. By choosing the "development ready track" (no end-user), applicants can only seek $2 million in state funds versus $3 million for end-user projects. Developers will be calculating whether overall project costs exceed the extra $1 million available if prevailing wage applies. Some may say that’s acceptable, but if makes less brownfield projects viable that is not a good result for Ohio’s cities.
It seems questionable that the Administration can make such a broad change in application of the prevailing wage through a simple "policy interpretation." Legal challenges or legislative action seems inevitable.Continue Reading How the New Policy on Prevailing Wage Impacts Brownfield Projects
This picture may be one of the last of the "big three" (Strickland, Husted, and Harris) holding hands over Clean Ohio. Governor Ted Strickland’s administration is proposing to mandate prevailing wage for all construction that occurs on land for which the State has funded environmental remediation. A key political debate is shaping up as to how
PTIO Program is Launched- Effective June 30, 2008 Ohio EPA finalized this new permit program which combines the Permit to Install (PTI) and Permit to Operate (PTO) into a single permit for non-Title V facilities. Facilities will no longer have to apply for a separate PTO. This program is intended to deal with Ohio EPA’s backlog
On June 4, 2008, the Clean Ohio Council approved two new grant rounds (Rounds 5 and 6) to encourage brownfield redevelopment through its Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund (CORF). As noted in a recent stakeholder report on the Clean Ohio Program, the CORF is "seen as a significant national model that other states strive to replicate." If