New York State Governor And Legislature Amend And Extend Brownfield Cleanup Program

Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature have reached an agreement to amend and extend the State's Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) in advance of December 31, 2015, when tax credit eligibility under the program would have otherwise expired. Legislation reflecting these revisions passed both houses of the Legislature and was signed by the Governor on April 1.

Highlights of the key amendments to the BCP are as follows:

New Objective Definition for Eligible Sites

• The definition for "Brownfield site" is amended to make eligible any site which has contamination in excess of standards set by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) based on the reasonably anticipated use of the property. This more objective standard should put to rest the uncertainty that prospective BCP applicants had with respect to site eligibility under the BCP.