You asked about the status of the Office of Brownfields Remediation and Development, which was established by PA 06-184, and how a town can become eligible to receive funds under the act.

PA 06-184 created the Office of Brownfields Remediation and Development within the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) for administrative purposes. The office is responsible for expediting the process for identifying, cleaning up, and redeveloping contaminated properties. Joe Oros, DECD's legislative liaison, reports that the office is up and running and will soon have a presence on the agency's website. Peter Simmons is its director. His phone number is 270-8149.

The act requires the office to establish a pilot program to identify opportunities for cleaning up and redeveloping contaminated properties (i. e. brownfields). It must designate four towns where brownfields hinder economic development and fund projects that could significantly benefit them. One town must have between 25,000 and 50,000 people, one between 50,000 and 100,000, and two must have more than 100,000 people. Towns with populations under 25,000 do not seem to be eligible for the pilot program, which appears to be the act's only method for providing funds to towns.

The act does not directly fund the office or the pilot program, but it creates a source for funding them. The office can receive 80% of the proceeds from the sale of any property towns or their development agencies clean up. It must deposit this money in a separate, nonlapsing General Fund account, which it can use to clean up and restore brownfields under the pilot program. DECD can also use funds allocated for other programs, including the Urban Act and Industrial Site Reinvestment Program, for the act's purposes.

A summary of PA 06-184 is enclosed; it is also available at PA 06-184.

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