A new bill in Congress is great news for America's neighborhoods


Yards Park in Washington, DC was built on the site of a former brownfield. Photo via Flickr.

Cleaning up contaminated land benefits the environment and the economy, and a new bill introduced today in Congress would make it easier for towns and cities to do just that.

Senators Lautenberg (D-NJ), Inhofe (R-OK), Crapo (R-ID) and Udall (D-NM) introduced today the Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act of 2013. If passed, the bill will help communities across the country clean up contaminated and abandoned land and put it back into productive use.

“The BUILD Act is a win for everyone—Congress, local governments, business owners and taxpayers,” said Geoff Anderson, President and CEO of Smart Growth America. “Brownfields restoration drives economic growth while giving local governments the flexibility to pursue the projects they need the most. Transforming a community’s financial sinkhole into a new business or residential building is a no-brainer.”

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Brownfield restoration represents tremendous economic development opportunities. This smart growth strategy can revitalize not just a single property but a whole community, and the BUILD Act will help more communities make that happen. That’s something members of Congress on both side of the aisle can support.

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