Letter to the Hon. Lisa Murkowski, Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment & Related Agencies and the Hon. Tom Udall, Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment & Related Agencies - Designate $154 Million To EPA Brownfields Program In Fiscal Year 2018

Letter

We are writing to ask you to reject the proposed cuts in funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Brownfields Program in the President's FY2018 budget request, and to continue funding it at least at the current level of $154 million. This important program drives economic growth by providing funds and technical assistance to assess and clean-up contaminated property sites for redevelopment, and helps promote successful local economic development in communities across the United States. Using funds from the Brownfields program, communities are able to convert liabilities into productive local assets. In the past, Brownfield funds have successfully laid the groundwork for manufacturing plants, commercial spaces, housing, community recreation facilities, and parks. Redeveloping contaminated properties creates jobs, improves environmental quality, and boosts local and state tax revenues.

As of January 1, 2017 the EPA's Brownfields program has assessed 25,296 properties, made 63,900 acres ready for reuse, leveraged the creation of 117,525 jobs, and $22.612 billion in funding since the program's inception in 1995. Further, EPA has found that approximately $16.11 is leveraged for each dollar the EPA Brownfields program spends and 8.5 jobs leveraged per $100,000 of EPA brownfields funds expended on assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund cooperative agreements. A study found that residential property values increased 5% to 15.2% once a nearby brownfield was assessed or cleaned up.

Given the high success of EPA's Brownfields Program and its direct importance to economic recovery in rural and urban communities nationally, we are requesting that the program be adequately funded. While much has been done over the past two decades to clean-up and assess contaminated sites, a strong need still remains. EPA's Brownfields Program is making necessary investments that are helping to rebuild our country and to stimulate economic growth and jobs in our cities and towns.

Thank you for your consideration of our request. We recognize that there are many competing priorities facing your subcommittee and we hope that you will support this program.