By Derrick L. Coley
December 9, 2002

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Christine Todd Whitman opened the Brownfields 2002 Plenary November 13th by thanking the U.S. Conference of Mayors for their tireless work to get the brownfields legislation passed. Administrator Whitman stated, "Without the help of the Conference of Mayors, I don-t think we would have seen this legislation pass the way it did."

Whitman elaborated on the profound changes taking place within brownfields redevelopment as a result of the new law, stating, "The entire brownfields landscape has changed," she said. "Our Administration followed up on the enactment of this law by requesting $200 million in brownfields funding for the current fiscal year — more than doubling the previous year's commitment," she continued.

Whitman spoke about EPA's efforts to build strong partnerships with local communities who are on the frontlines redeveloping brownfields, stating, "The new law provides opportunities for you and for us to work together to expand on the success of America's communities." Whitman also talked about the need to continue providing incentives for economic leverage to turn brownfields around more quickly. She said, "EPA's brownfields assistance has leveraged more than $4.6 billion in private investment, helped create more than 20,000 jobs and has resulted in the assessment of more than 4,000 properties."

Whitman also spoke about the EPA's National Brownfields Program's four major goals for 2002. The first is to continue protecting the environment with the belief that through fundamental environmental protection brownfields revitalization efforts will provide new jobs and create a stronger tax base. The second is to foster federal partnerships through the Administration's new Brownfields Federal Partnership, which includes agencies such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency among others.

The third encourages efforts to strengthen the private marketplace for brownfields investment, by continuing to leverage federal dollars as Whitman stated, "Every dollar we spend leads to two and a half dollars in private investment." The fourth goal is building the capacity of local communities for sustainable development by sustaining property reuse by taking advantage of existing infrastructure. Administrator Whitman closed by stating, "Several years from now, we will look back and see that it was in 2002 that the stage was set for what will be a truly extraordinary period of progress in revitalizing America's neighborhoods by restoring America's brownfields."