City unveils cleanup incentive for developers

City officials hope to spur the redevelopment of hundreds of mildly polluted properties by offering to trim red tape and cap legal liability for builders who participate in a city-run cleanup program.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday that the city has cut a deal with state environmental officials to offer a local version of New York's brownfield program, which offers a range of incentives to builders hoping to breathe new life into vacant lots and old industrial blocks.

Under the arrangement, the city would oversee private cleanup efforts on land where pollutants such as old fuel leaks pose barriers to new construction but aren't so severe the projects need state or federal supervision. The key benefits to developers, the city says, will be a streamlined bureaucratic process and a guarantee an owner's liability for the pollution will end once the cleanup is complete.

Some builders balk at taking on projects atop polluted land for fear they'll wind up tied to the land forever because of toxins in the ground. "By complying with the new city cleanup requirements," Bloomberg said, "developers will get the certainty . . . to make investments and go forward with projects." - AP