About OER - Office of Environmental Remediation

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	With the introduction of PlaNYC in April 2007, New York City took unprecedented steps towards municipal brownfield cleanup management. PlaNYC 2030, the City's blueprint for sustainability in the 21st century, identified 11 initiatives to address brownfield properties which are abandoned or underutilized due to the presence or perceived presence of contamination. These initiatives have now been completed and the City's brownfield management programs are now in full operation. Two important initiatives were the creation of the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation (OER), which occurred in June 2008, and the development of a City-operated brownfield cleanup program. On Earth Day 2009 the City Council unanimously approved the New York City Brownfield and Community Revitalization Act (Brownfield bill), authorizing the establishment of OER as a permanent City office as well as the development of the New York City Brownfield Cleanup Program. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg signed the Brownfield bill into law on May 11, 2009. After development of governing regulations, the New York City Brownfield Cleanup Program was officially launched on August 5, 2010. This program is the first municipally-run brownfield cleanup program in the nation. OER’s programmatic outreach continues to expand and currently includes: The NYC Brownfield Incentive Grant (BIG) program, which provides over $9 million in City investment in brownfield investigation and cleanup, including grants to Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) groups and to projects that are consistent with BOA plans; The Searchable Property Environmental Electronic Database (SPEED), which is a GIS-based web application designed to facilitate property research and identification of brownfield sites; Access to expert technical assistance; Capacity building workshops; Green job training; Community protection measures; and Commitments to make OER’s involvement in the brownfield cleanup process environmentally sustainable.