AN ACT CONCERNING BROWNFIELD REMEDIATION AND REDEVELOPMENT.

Explanation

The bill expands the duties of the Office of Brownfield Redevelopment (OBRD) within the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD). HB 7077, the Governor's recommended budget, provides funds for the OBRD in the amount of $85,260 in FY 08 and $88,670 in FY 09 for 2 positions to staff this office originally established in PA06-184.

The bill authorizes the DECD to provide different types and combinations of financing for investigating and cleaning up properties. The bill provides that the funding is subject to the availability of funds. The bill also establishes a nonlapsing “Brownfield Remediation and Redevelopment Revolving Loan Fund” and allows it to be capitalized with Urban Act bonds. The unallocated balance of this General Obligation (GO) bond fund account as of April 1, 2007 is $113. 3 million. Additional funds that can be deposited into the revolving loan fund include certain repayments of assistance, interest or other income earned on the investment of any moneys in the fund, and any funds recovered in a civil suit. The total dollars that will be available in this fund cannot be estimated at this time.

It is anticipated that the workload increase of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) due to establishment of a pilot program concerning priority funding for certain brownfield sites, consultation on financial assistance, or enforcement actions, are anticipated to minimally increase the workload of staff and be handled within existing program resources.

The bill allows the Commissioner of the DEP to ask the Attorney General to bring a civil action to recover certain costs. The Office of the Attorney General could carry out any such civil actions without requiring additional resources.

The bill adds the Department of Public Health (DPH) to the agencies that must designate staff to act as a liaison with the OBRD. It is anticipated that the DPH can provide liaison services to the OBRD within their current budgetary resources.

It is anticipated that the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management can consult with various agencies as the bill requires within the agency's normal budgetary resources.

Any potential revenue gain to municipalities related to the financial assistance programs in the bill would depend upon the amount and recipient of assistance.

The Out Years

The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation.

Agency Affected	Fund-Effect	FY 08 $	FY 09 $
Various	Various - See Below	See Below	See Below

Municipalities	Effect	FY 08 $	FY 09 $
Various Municipalities	Revenue Impact	See Below	See Below