Cumberland Park on Nashville, TN’s waterfront, transformed a former industrial area into a 6.5 acre nature-inspired play space that gets kids and parents moving. It is an excellent example of brownfield redevelopment in action. Photo via Inhabit.com.
As Congress considers the federal budget for fiscal year 2013, the National Brownfields Coalition is working to support several brownfields-related federal programs. These programs include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Brownfields program, as well as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Section 108 loan guarantee authority, its Sustainable Communities program, and the Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) program.
In support of these federal programs, 25 organizations have endorsed the Brownfields Coalition’s letters to Congress, downloadable below. The letters call for $250 million for EPA’s Brownfields Program; $7 million for HUD 108; $100 million for the HUD Sustainable Communities Program; and $25 million for the HUD BEDI Program.
The Coalition also worked with the office of Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) – who was joined by 13 additional Senators – to ask Senate Appropriations Committee members to maintain funding for the EPA Brownfields Program.
These efforts are gaining momentum. Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to restore funding to HUD’s Sustainable Communities Initiative, and proposed a budget of $50 million for the program. The Senate’s vote is a huge step forward for this effort; the draft budget has now been passed to the House of Representatives for review.
Read more about HUD, EPA and the Partnership for Sustainable Communities on our Partnership blog >>
Download recent correspondence to Congress:
- California Brownfields – Community Turn-around Projects (PDF)
- Tennessee Brownfields Projects
- Letter to Senators Jack Reed and Lisa Murkowski from Senator Carl Levin. Co-signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal, Barbara Boxer, Debbie Stabenow, Christopher A. Coons, Tom Harkin, Jeff Merkley, Sheldon Whitehouse, Ron Wyden, Patrick J. Leahy, Charles Schumer, Frank Lautenberg, and Kristen Gillbrand
- Letter from the National Brownfields Coalition to the House Appropriations Committee in support of the EPA’s Brownfields program
- Letter from the National Brownfields Coalition to the Senate Appropriations Committee in support of the EPA’s Brownfields program
- Letter from the National Brownfields Coalition to the House Appropriations Committee in support of HUD’s brownfieds programs
- Letter from the National Brownfields Coalition to the Senate Appropriations Committee in support of HUD’s brownfieds programs
- Letter from the National Brownfields Coalition to the House Ways and Means Committee supporting the Renewal of the Section 198 Remediation Tax Expensing Program
- Letter from the National Brownfields Coalition to the Senate Ways and Means Committee supporting the Renewal of the Section 198 Remediation Tax Expensing Program