Vice President Gore today launched an expansion of the Clinton Administration's Brownfields Redevelopment Initiative, building upon the Administration's actions to revitalize America's communities. First, a new Brownfields National Partnership brings a wide array of new federal and private sector resources to help thousands of communities clean up and redevelop brownfields. This ongoing Partnership -- which also builds on the Administration's Community Empowerment Agenda -- will support communities and provide new tools for their use. Second, the latest round of EPA's brownfields redevelopment pilot project grants brings resources to an additional 34 communities to spur revitalization. Third, the Vice President called on Congress to pass the President's brownfields legislative package, which includes a tax incentive to encourage brownfields redevelopment.

1) New Brownfields National Partnership: This new two-year effort includes more than 100 commitments from more than 25 organizations -- including more than 15 federal agencies -- to further spur cleanup and redevelopment at some 5,000 brownfields sites around the U.S. The new partnership is expected to result in:

A $300 million federal investment in brownfields cleanup and redevelopment, along with an additional $165 million in loan guarantees to advance community revitalization;

Leveraging from $5 billion up to $28 billion in private investment to redevelop these areas and return them to productive community use;

Support up to 196,000 new jobs;

Protection of up to 34,000 acres of undeveloped &greenfield8 areas, and quality of life improvements for up to 18 million Americans living near these communities.

Under the new federal partnership, 15 federal agencies will provide:

Assessment, cleanup and job training funds ($125 million) from EPA; additional job training support from Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Education;

Redevelopment and housing funds ($155 million) and loan guarantees ($165 million) from the Department of Housing and Urban Development; redevelopment of distressed areas ($17 million) from the Economic Development Administration; coastal community revitalization ($900,000) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and surveys to speed federal property development ($1 million) from the General Services Administration.

In addition, HHS will work across the Administration to develop a public health policy to protect community residents near brownfields; Department of Treasury will work with Congress on the President's proposal for a $2 billion brownfields tax incentive; and EPA, Department of Justice and the states will collaborate to establish national guidelines for state voluntary cleanups.

To provide models for successful collaboration, the Administration will select 10 Brownfields Showcase Communities to demonstrate importance of cooperation among federal agencies, state and local governments and the private sector in cleaning up and revitalizing brownfields. The Administration will select these sites through a competitive process from among brownfield and empowerment community/enterprise zone sites across the country.

2) New Pilot Grants Provide More Communities with Seed Money to Spur Redevelopment: Building on the Clinton Administration's efforts since November 1993 to provide seed money to communities seeking to clean up and redevelop brownfields, the Vice President today announced an additional 34 grants of up to $200,000 to national or regional brownfields redevelopment pilot projects. To date, the Clinton Administration has awarded 113 such pilot projects totaling nearly $20 million to communities across the nation to help them restore abandoned industrial sites to new uses that revitalize both the environment and the economy in urban centers and surrounding communities. Each pilot project is expected to serve as a model for other communities to use in removing the barriers to cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields in a variety of settings.

3) A Call to Congress to Pass Brownfields Tax Incentive Legislation: The Vice President called on Congress to pass the President's brownfields legislative package, which includes a tax incentive to encourage brownfields redevelopment. President Clinton's FY 1998 balanced budget plan contains a targeted tax incentive to spur the private sector to clean up and redevelop brownfields in economically distressed rural and urban areas. This $2 billion tax incentive is expected to leverage $10 billion in private sector investment, helping to revitalize some 30,000 brownfields sites. Under the proposal, businesses would be able to expense the costs of cleaning up these properties in the year in which the costs are incurred, rather than capitalizing such costs of the life of the property. This tax proposal will provide significant financial incentives for the private sector to revitalize these areas.

Bucks County, Pennsylvania - Commissioner Michael Fitzpatrick
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Bucks County -- an Enterprise Zone -- will work in a three-square-mile area to identify underutilized former industrial sites for redevelopment.

Cook County/Harvey, Illinois - Mayor Nickolas E. Graves
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Cook County will work with the city of Harvey to plan for redevelopment of an abandoned manufacturing facility as well as create new jobs.

Cowpens, South Carolina - Mayor William E. White
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Cowpens will plan for cleanup and redevelopment of a 70-acre former textile mill, for which a potential purchaser has already been identified.

Dade County/Miami, Florida - Mayor Alex Penelas
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Dade County will focus on a 30-acre former industrial center adjacent to public housing to plan for its cleanup and create redevelopment incentives.

Elmira, New York - Mayor Howard F. Townsend
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Elmira will select 4 to 6 brownfields for cleanup and redevelopment, and consider a stop-loss insurance fund to cover private cleanup costs.

Fayetteville, North Carolina - Mayor Johnny Lee Dawkins, Jr.
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Fayetteville will focus on redevelopment plans for three downtown brownfields that combine residential, commercial and retail properties on 3,000 acres.

Greenfield, Massachusetts - Mayor Peter Ruggeri
With the help of its $125,000 seed grant, Greenfield will create a cleanup plan for an abandoned machine tool plant, and determine future options for returning it to productive community use.

Hartford, Connecticut - Mayor Michael P. Peters
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Hartford will target deteriorated industrial sites in three neighborhoods, with a goal of attracting new industrial and commercial development.

High Point, North Carolina - Mayor Rebecca Smothers
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, High Point plans to revitalize its West Macedonia area, southeast of its downtown, by planning cleanups and creating new public-private partnerships.

Jacksonville, Florida - Mayor John A. Delaney
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Jacksonville will focus on revitalizing underused or vacant brownfields in the Talleyrand Redevelopment Area and East Jacksonville.

Jersey City, New Jersey - Mayor Bret Schundler
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Jersey City plans to boost its tax base and create jobs by revitalizing former industrial and rail areas surrounded by residential communities.

Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska - Mayor John "Jack" Shay
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Ketchikan Gateway Borough will create cleanup and reuse plans for a recently closed paper mill, to avoid deterioration and boost employment.

State of Maine - Governor Angus S. King, Jr.
With the help of its $199,017 seed grant, Maine will target 85 towns and cities statewide to assist in revitalization and job creation, using a revolving loan fund to help support cleanup assessments.

Memphis, Tennessee - Mayor W. W. Herenton
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Memphis will focus on an abandoned tire plant in the North Memphis Enterprise Community, creating plans for its cleanup and productive reuse.

New Bedford, Massachusetts - Mayor Rosemary S. Tierney
With the help of its $172,000 seed grant, New Bedford will use tax incentives and loan options for cleanups to help redevelop former mill sites into aquaculture facilities to boost its economy.

Niagara Falls, New York - Mayor James C. Galie
With the help of its $195,250 seed grant, Niagara Falls will plan cleanups at four brownfields in its industrial core, offering tax credits and other incentives to encourage their redevelopment.

Perth Amboy, New Jersey - Mayor Joseph Vas
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Perth Amboy will focus on redeveloping two formerly heavy industrial areas, and develop model insurance to remove cleanup liability issues.

Puerto Rico - Governor Pedro Rossello
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, the Puerto Rico Economic Development Administration will plan for 3 cleanups, including one to turn a vacant electroplating plant into a recycling center.

Santa Barbara County, California - County Administrator Michael Brown
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Santa Barbara County will revitalize the Goleta Old Town area -- with some 50 possible brownfields -- through cleanup and redevelopment plans.

St. Paul, Minnesota - Mayor Norm Coleman
With the help of its $146,000 seed grant, the St. Paul Port Authority will work with community groups to identify up to six underused or abandoned brownfields for cleanup and redevelopment.

Tallahassee, Florida - Mayor Scott Maddox
With the help of its $191,000 seed grant, Tallahassee will examine 73 brownfields on 450 acres for potential cleanup and redevelopment, focusing on the Gaines Street/Cascade corridor.

Tucson, Arizona - Mayor George Miller
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Tucson will clean up and redevelop up to 20 brownfields in an 80-acre area of warehouses, roadways and vacant industrial sites.

Wellston, Missouri - Mayor Robert L. Powell
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Wellston will plan cleanups and redevelopment of a 100-acre brownfield area, with the goal of creating a new light manufacturing technology park.

Wilmington, Delaware - Mayor James H. Sills, Jr.
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Wilmington will focus on 1,750 acres of former industrial sites for cleanup and redevelopment, and start a brownfields cleanup loan program.

Northwest Wisconsin - Governor Tommy G. Thompson
With the help of its $195,510 seed grant, Northwest Wisconsin will initially target six brownfields across the region for redevelopment, including those in a waterfront area in the city of Superior.REGIONAL PILOT PROJECTS

Baltimore County, Maryland - County Executive Charles A. Dutch Ruppersberger
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Baltimore County will focus on a revitalization strategy for vacant and underused brownfield sites in its southeast industrial corridor.

Chicago, Illinois - Mayor Richard M. Daley
With the help of its $41,000 seed grant, Chicago will create a stakeholder participation process to facilitate community input into three ongoing brownfields redevelopment efforts.

East Palo Alto, California - Mayor R. B. Jones
With the help of its $125,000 seed grant, East Palo Alto will focus on a 130-acre industrial area with nearly 60 properties, conducting environmental assessments to speed redevelopment.

Englewood, Colorado - Mayor Tom Burns
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Englewood will create low-interest cleanup loans and identify potential developers for two former industrial sites, an iron works and a plating facility.

Gainesville, Florida - Mayor Bruce Delaney
With the help of its $100,000 seed grant, Gainesville plans to meet an environmental need -- treating downtown stormwater runoff -- by turning a 20-acre brownfield into a stormwater park.

Lynn, Massachusetts - Mayor Patrick S. McManus
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Lynn will complete cleanup and redevelopment plans for three diverse brownfields, to return them to residential, industrial and recreational use.

Ogden City, Utah - Mayor Glenn J. Mecham
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Ogden City will create redevelopment plans for three central business district brownfields; a new baseball stadium is planned for a former iron works.

Tulsa, Oklahoma - Mayor M. Susan Savage
With the help of its $200,000 seed grant, Tulsa will create cleanup and redevelopment plans for 10 brownfields in its northwest neighborhoods, and explore financing and tax incentives.

Westfield, Massachusetts - Mayor Richard Sullivan, Jr.
With the help of its $197,000 seed grant, Westfield will target a former boiler manufacturing facility -- which closed down four years ago -- for assessment, cleanup and redevelopment.

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