By Judy Sheahan
March 5, 2007

Elizabeth (NJ) Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, co-chair of the Conference of Mayors Brownfields Task Force, testified on mayoral environmental priorities before the House Energy and Commerce’s subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials on March 1. The hearing was an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget oversight hearing. This subcommittee has primary jurisdiction over brownfields reauthorization.

Bollwage covered the topics of brownfields, climate change, clean and safe drinking water, superfund, and clean air programs. He also highlighted the importance of not passing unfunded federal mandates.

“Mayors, as the chief executives of their cities, are in a unique position since we are on the front lines of protecting the health of our citizens,” Bollwage said. “We are also, unfortunately, at the end of the line when it comes to unfunded mandates. Mayors do not have a problem with passing good environmental public policy but we do have a problem with passing public policy without providing the resources to pay for it.”

Bollwage said, “I wanted to take this opportunity, as you deliberate the various environmental rules and regulations that come before you, to keep in mind the costs that will be incurred by local governments and our citizens.”

Bollwage asked for full funding of the EPA brownfields program and he asked the committee to consider reauthorizing the law with some modifications. The law technically expired at the end of 2006. After Bollwage’s testimony, Representative Frank Pallone (NJ) said, “I intend to introduce a reauthorization of the Brownfields bill.”

Bollwage outlined the need for the Energy and Environment Block Grant (EEBG), part of the Conference of Mayors’ 10-Point Plan and one of the tools needed to help deal with the climate change crisis.

“As this committee debates the issue of climate change, the Mayors would like for you to consider a multi-level approach to help deal with this problem,” Bollwage said, “the Mayors believe that if we are even potentially going to be successful with solving this crisis, the nation will need both a top-down and a bottoms-up approach.”

“Through the Conference’s work, we have determined that much more could be done at the local level,” Bollwage said, “that is why the Mayors of this nation are proposing the formation of an Energy and Environmental Block Grant (EEBG).”

Bollwage further outlined the $4 billion proposal which would require local governments to determine its carbon footprint and create a plan for reducing their greenhouse gas emission levels by a certain percentage. Monies from the EEBG would be used to create and implement this plan. Eligible activities would include energy audits, energy-efficiency retrofits, alternative fuel and fuel conservation programs to name a few.

Bollwage highlighted the innovative programs that cities have already been implementing in their cities and that are featured in the Conference of Mayors’ Energy and Environment Best Practices book, which is available online.

Water and wastewater infrastructure costs were also discussed as Bollwage outlined the Mayors’ positions on these topics which include fully funding the State Revolving Fund programs; grants; 30-year no-interest loans; and, greater use of Private Activity Bonds (PABs).

Other priorities that Bollwage highlighted included reinstating the Superfund taxes and expediting the assessment and cleanup of sights and maintaining local clean air programs.

Bollwage concluded his testimony with a call on Congress not to simply look at one area of the budget to look for ways to cut but to think of the long-term health of the nation. “I hope you recognize that the needs for this nation are great and if we are to remain a competitive nation, we need to invest in our communities and make them better,” Bollwage said, “Congress needs to examine where the nation’s priorities should be and to find ways to creatively invest in those priorities to get the biggest return on their investment. We are all in this together and we need to be creative at all levels of government to handle these issues and create innovative solutions without costly unfunded mandates.”

For a copy of the Mayor Bollwage’s testimony, please see usmayors.org.