By Maria Meier
March 19, 2001

Brownfields is one of President Bush's highest environmental priorities, according to Michael Shapiro, Acting Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER). During his remarks, Mr. Shapiro described EPA's work on the Brownfields Initiative, highlighting bipartisan congressional interest in the issue and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman's supportive testimony on Capitol Hill before Senate and House Committees on this subject.

The Senate's bill incorporates much of the existing brownfields program and doubles the current funding level. Shapiro stated the bill resolves potential state-federal conflicts by providing protection from federal enforcement for sites undergoing cleanup through state programs. It also provides liability relief to innocent landowners and prospective purchasers.

The Brownfields Initiative efforts focus on four areas: assessment, cleanup, sustainable reuse, and community revitalization. Mr. Shapiro said that the EPA "found brownfields to be at the nexus of some of the major social and environmental policy concerns of our time; environmental justice, greenspace protection, sprawl, and crime and unemployment are just a few of the issues that come up." During Fiscal Year 2001, the EPA will provide $14million in assessment pilot funding under the Brownfields Assessment Pilot Program, and another $35 million in Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Grants. Under this incentive, environmental cleanup costs for properties in designated areas are fully deductible in the year in which they are incurred rather than being capitalized at the end of the real estate process. Recent changes to the incentive include an extension of it to December 31, 2003 and removal of the economic and geographic restrictions. This broadens and simplifies the tax incentive's use. The President's 2002 budget proposes making the incentive permanent. Mr. Shapiro also outlined his office's efforts to conduct a review of EPA's municipal solid waste landfill regulations, addressing leachate recirculation, research, development and demonstration, permits, and clean closure of landfills.

With regards to product stewardship Mr. Shapiro stressed the EPA's support of the principle of shared responsibility. He lauded The USCM's shared responsibility resolution and said that EPA is working to develop voluntary programs, guidelines, and reuse and recycling rates for carpet and electronics.