On December 9, ICSC members met with Pete Lopez, Administrator of EPA Region 2, and senior EPA staff at ICSC’s new headquarters in New York City. Region II includes New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and eight Indian Nations. This marks the sixth such meeting between ICSC and EPA Regional Administrators – prior meetings took place in Region I (Boston), Region II (Philadelphia), Region IV (Atlanta), Region V (Chicago), Region VI (Dallas) and Region IX (California). Topics discussed at the introductory meeting included ICSC environmental policy priorities, reforms to the Obama-era Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule, streamlining of the brownfield and Superfund programs and redevelopment opportunities for sites in Region 2.
EPA was very forthcoming with its priority sites that are available for development opportunities. ICSC members advocated for the expedited delisting of sites from the National Priorities List (NPL) and urged consideration of partial delisting as a best practice with a focus on risk-based cleanups. ICSC members also support the shifting of oversight of non-NPL federal sites to state brownfield of voluntary cleanup programs. ICSC believes EPA should prioritize its resources to focus on sites with the highest impact and best future public benefit and urges EPA to accelerate its decision-making process in an effort to contain oversight costs. Additionally, many ICSC members have taken advantage of brownfields grants through their municipalities and have found these grants to be a valuable tool in property tax relief and liability protections.
For more information or to participate in an upcoming meeting, contact gpp@icsc.com.
ICSC staff and members met with EPA officials in December in New York, NY.