New Cassel, N.Y- Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi today announced the launch of the NY Metro Brownfields Redevelopment Fund Program, an innovative public-private partnership created to advance the cleanup and productive re-use of contaminated properties, or “brownfields.” 

“Many of the brownfields in Nassau County, New York, and throughout the country are located in or near low and moderate-income communities that have a history of abandonment, disinvestment and environmental degradation,” said County Executive Suozzi.  “That is why Nassau County will use one million dollars received from the USEPA and matching County dollars to guarantee loans issued by the private sector to cleanup these blighted properties.  By using the federal grant as a loan guarantee, the government resources are maximized, leveraging $5 in private investment for every dollar in government funds.  Moreover, it is a revolving loan fund, which means that this grant money can be used over and over again to guarantee private loan capital for Nassau.  We estimate that over a five year period, more than $10 million will be made available to finance the cleanup of brownfield sites in Nassau County through this EPA grant.  It will allow us to turn today’s brownfields into income-generating and economically viable assets.” 

Conceived as a tool to help implement community supported plans with an emphasis on low and moderate income neighborhoods, the programmatic infrastructure developed over the last three years to administer the Program, reaches across County lines and is available for projects in Nassau County and New York City’s five boroughs, and will eventually expand to Suffolk County and the lower Hudson Valley. The partnership that developed the program includes Nassau County, New York City, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, the nonprofit organizations New Partners for Community Revitalization and Sustainable Long Island, and a national community development financial institution. 

“We applaud Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi’s leadership working with the Bloomberg Administration in the City of New York and the US Environmental Protection Agency to partner on this innovative initiative, said Jody Kass, Co-Director of New Partners for Community Revitalization.  “Banks lend across county lines, developers who build in NYC also build on Long Island -- it just makes sense to work together to craft this new financing mechanism on a regional basis.”

“The New York Metro Brownfields Redevelopment Fund reflects environmental protection that is locally-based, forges strong public-private partnerships, and promotes innovation and creativity,” said Acting EPA Regional Administrator Kathleen C. Callahan. “This project gives borrowers a ready source of funds for redeveloping properties while protecting public health and the environment.”

“For too many years, low and moderate income neighborhoods and communities of color across the region have suffered from the disinvestment, degradation and other deleterious effects of thousands of abandoned and under-utilized brownfields,” said Mathy Stanislaus, co-director of New Partners for Community Revitalization.  “With this program, dozens of diverse practitioners, stakeholders and experts participated in the process to develop the Fund Program’s procedures. The three-pronged underwriting process will ensure that projects that receive assistance through the Fund Program are i) supported by the community, ii) financially feasible and iii) that the cleanups will be protective of public health and the environment.”

The cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield properties has been a major piece of County Executive Suozzi’s economic development program.  There are estimates of 1,600 brownfields in Nassau County alone.  “Ninety-five percent of Nassau County has been developed,” said Suozzi.  “In order to protect our precious open space, and improve the quality of life that goes with this protection, we need to supply all the means and incentives we can to the private sector to ensure the cleanup and revitalization of all contaminated property.”