We will educate and provide technical assistance to communities, private developers, and City agencies to promote brownfield redevelopment
Even at its simplest, brownfield remediation is very confusing. Whole industries exist to coordinate the numerous stakeholders in brownfield redevelopments. Lawyers, environmental consultants, lenders, insurance brokers, and Federal, State, and local regulators usually have some part to play in most brownfield transactions, creating tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in soft costs alone. Though these services are expensive, they are also essential to help maximize the potential benefits of existing programs.

Through its new Office of Environmental Remediation, the City will provide the information, technical assistance, and training necessary to assist less-sophisticated developers and encourage effective community involvement and planning.

The effort will include the creation and continual updating of a brownfields information website to provide information on resources available for site investigation and cleanup. The office will also act as a liaison to DEC, assist in reviewing legal agreements and permitting applications, track sites and progress, create a "toolkit" for interested community groups, and hold workshops for community groups and City agency staff. The group will also actively promote applications to the State BOA program, as well as provide a City liaison to all City projects.

Progress (as of 4/22/08):
In September, the City began to survey non-profits and BOA grantees to determine training and resource needs to promote brownfields redevelopment. The City continues to solicit and consider feedback from various community groups in preparation for a workshop in Fall 2008. An initial session will take place in the summer, and more will continue through the year to address the issues that arise. A curriculum is being developed based on feedback from various stakeholders that will be useful to a wide variety of organizations.