ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE

EXPANDING THE BROWNFIELDS TAX INCENTIVE

WHEREAS, the Brownfields Remediation Tax Credit was enacted in 1997, largely in response to the mayors' call for tax incentives to help local communities cleanup and reuse brownfield sites; and

WHEREAS, under current law, cleanup costs can be "expensed" (i.e. deducted against tax liability in the year the costs are incurred) at sites which are located in certain EPA pilot grant areas and census tracts of high poverty, including certain industrial areas adjoining such tracts, and in empowerment zones and enterprise communities; and

WHEREAS, private parties have been hesitant to take advantage of this incentive due to the limitations on where cleanups can be conducted in order to receive the benefits; and

WHEREAS, companies have also been hesitant to use this incentive due to the short authorization periods of the law, with the current law expiring in 2001; and

WHEREAS, Members in both the House and Senate have expressed an interest in expanding the targeting provisions as well as authorizing the program for a longer duration; and

WHEREAS, one targeting option is to allow private parties to "expense" cleanup costs at any brownfields sites located within a 'metropolitan statistical area' or MSA, urbanized places of the country where nearly 4 out of every 5 Americans now live; and

WHEREAS, another option is to remove the targeting altogether,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the United States Conference of Mayors hereby urges Congress to revise the tax code to either expand or remove the targeting criteria, in addition to authorizing the program for a longer time period; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the US Conference of Mayors hereby urges the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Treasury Department to work with Congress to enact such legislation to further facilitate the remediation and redevelopment of brownfield sites.