Federal Legislation Introduced to Promote the Redevelopment of Brownfields for Renewable Energy Generation

By Chad Farrell of Encore Redevelopment, May 2010

U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey introduced legislation on May 7, 2010 to help promote the development of clean energy projects on contaminated brownfield sites.  The bill is being co-sponsored by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Sherrod Brown of Ohio. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that there are 4,100 brownfield sites across the country that offer potential host locations for renewable energy development.   The “Cleanfields Act of 2010” would encourage utilities to meet proposed renewable electricity mandates by building renewable energy production facilities on former industrial sites, landfills, mining sites, and other environmentally challenged land. The bill provides triple renewable energy credits toward meeting a national Renewable Electricity Standard for electricity produced on brownfield sites.  A nationwide Renewable Electricity Standard requiring states to produce 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources was included as part of the American Clean Energy Leadership Act (ACELA), approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in June 2009.  
 
According to a recent Northeast-Midwest Institute report, only 1.4 percent of all brownfield sites are remediated each year.  And in recent years, there has been increasing concern about placing clean energy projects on nature preserves, prime agricultural lands, and other ecologically sensitive areas.  The Cleanfields Act addresses both issues by offering much-needed sites for clean energy development, while increasing the rate of hazardous waste site cleanup.

For the press release related to Senator Lautenbeg’s, please click here: http://lautenberg.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=324722&

To read a letter of support for the Cleanfields Act of 2010 from the US Conference of Mayors and the Wilderness Society, click here: http://lautenberg.senate.gov/assets/CleanfieldsAct_Support.pdf