Legislation would provide grants for waterfront brownfield redevelopment

Proposed federal legislation would award grants of up to $500,000 to local governments and nonprofit organizations redeveloping abandoned waterfront properties.

“I don’t think [the legislation] has any chance [of passing] before the election, but after the election there is an opportunity because this kind of idea isn’t a Democratic or Republican idea,” U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D–NY) said at a news conference on the legislation Sept. 14 at the Syracuse Inner Harbor. “It’s a very good common sense idea that creates opportunities for economic growth in a very productive way.”

The bill would provide grants to municipalities and nonprofit organizations working on waterfront brownfield restoration that cannot take advantage of tax credits, said Eugene Leff, New York Department of Environmental Conservation deputy commissioner.

The legislation would help finish a project by COR Development of Fayetteville to redevelop the Syracuse Inner Harbor.