The Connecticut General Assembly passed HB 6526 which establishes improved liability protections for both purchasers and property owners.  The chief provisions are:

• Broad third party liability protections.  Note that Connecticut had previously established third party liability protections, but there were weaknesses, as cited in this Brownfields Renewal article, authored by Evans Paull. 
• Establishing that the innocent purchaser is not responsible for contamination that has migrated off-site; such liability, however, remains with the party from whom the innocent purchaser acquired the property;
• The seller/RP gains liability protection for on-site contamination, provided that the innocent purchaser completes the cleanup, and the property itself is no loner subject to the Connecticut Transfer Act (provided no new polluting event triggers its applicability). 
• The state must complete any audit of a Licensed Site Professional's (LEP) remedial action report within 180 days (the previous law was within 2 years).  Connecticut is one of five states that delegate cleanup oversight to LEP's

Barry Trilling, attorney at Wiggin and Dana, provided Redevelopment Economics with this summary of the landmark reform bill.

Land Leases and Liability for Renewable Energy on Contaminated Sites

In March, EPA issued a guidance document, "Siting Renewable Energy on Contaminated Property, Addressing Liability Concerns." A close reading reveals a short-coming of the 2002 federal brownfields reforms that is now impacting the development of renewable energy on brownfield sites.  The problem is that Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser (BFPP) liability protections do not encompass an entity that is leasing land, unless they are leasing from an entity that is itself a BFPP.  The issue comes into focus for renewable energy because land leasing is the best way for renewable energy developers to establish a relatively passive use of the site while the owner continues to be responsible for cleanup.  This model has particular potential for land where high remediation costs are prohibitive for most other uses. 

Congress.  The National Brownfields Coalition has included the land lease/BFPP issue in its Brownfields Reauthorization platform, but as a long-term issue.  If there are other public or private organizations that the Coalition can work with on this, they should contact Evans Paull, Executive Director, National Brownfields Coalition, 202-329-4282.

The States.  The legal firm Daehnke Cruz is leading an effort to promote Bona Fide Prospective Ground Lease reforms in state legislatures.  California reforms were described in Brownfield Renewal.  Kevin Daehnke can be reached directly at KDaehnke@DaehnkeCruz.com or by cell, at (949) 632-2239.

• New Jersey Shuts Down Brownfields Fund until the backlog is cleared.
• California Redevelopment Agencies lose a budget battle, face possible elimination or diversion of funds to basic services. See  this article.

Toledo - a New Approach to Using HUD 108 for Job Creation

Brookings - the Transit and Jobs Missed Opportunity    

The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program has issued a new report, "Missed Opportunity - Transit and Jobs in Metropolitan America." One key finding is that the typical metropolitan resident can reach only about 30 percent of jobs in their metropolitan area via transit in 90 minutes.  For transit-dependent lower income populations the jobs-housing imbalance creates a critical problem, because only one-quarter of jobs in low- and middle-skill industries are accessible via transit within 90 minutes for the typical metropolitan commuter.  The full report is available here.

Would Greater Targeting to Brownfields Achieve Better Results?

An article in the Pittsburgh Tribune reviews the results of the Pennsylvania Keystone Opportunity Zone Program, which is the Pennsylvania version of enterprise zones, with very aggressive exemptions and abatements of state and local taxes in order to induce business expansion and investment in distressed and brownfields-impacted areas of the state.  Larry Larese, Director of the Westmoreland County Planning Department and Executive Director of the county's industrial development authority, thinks "The brownfield sites and blighted areas such as the zones in New Kensington did not work because the program lost its focus.  That happened when counties turned undeveloped vacant land or greenfields into Keystone Opportunity Zones," he said.  Rock Airport was essentially a greenfield, he added.

"If a company wanted tax relief for a certain number of years, and the only place they could get it was urban, blighted areas, guess what? We would have had development in those areas," Larese said.

We poke a little fun at ourselves, skewering planning, politics, and economic development in the new humor section of the Redevelopment Economics website.  Don't miss the section of kid quotes.  Example:  

Daniel, age 3 analyzes traffic congestion: Dad, muttering about being stuck in traffic - "I wonder why there is so much traffic out today?"  Daniel - "Daddy, I know.  It's because all the cars got unparked."