David J. Freeman to Speak at Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast Conference

David J. Freeman, a Director in the Gibbons Environmental Department, will be a speaker at the upcoming Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast Conference on March 5, at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Mr. Freeman will be discussing proposed changes to the New York State Brownfield Cleanup Act as a member of a panel entitled “Where Are The Incentives And How Could Proposed Legislation Affect Them?” As noted in our recent blog, legislation proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo as part of his 2014 budget would have a major impact on the types of projects that are accepted into the New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP), and the extent to which those projects are eligible for state tax credits.

The Program, and the effectiveness of its tax credits, was also the subject of a recent study by Professor Barry Hersh of NYU. That study concluded that the 2008 amendments to the Brownfield Cleanup Act have been effective in addressing many of the problems with the law as originally enacted. Click here to read our blog on this study.

Other topics to be covered at the conference include Municipal Redevelopment Efforts, Public/Private Partnership, Resiliency and Climate Change, Energy Projects On Contaminated Sites. There will be speakers from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the New York City Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation.