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NEMW Priorities Supported in House Energy and Water Spending Bill to be Considered this Week
The House Appropriations Committee, responsible for drafting the federal government spending bills, reviewed and passed out of Committee the FY2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which primarily funds the Department of Energy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. As part of its efforts to track federal spending, the Northeast-Midwest Institute reviewed the bill in relation to priorities for the region, including funding for harbor maintenance, energy efficiency programs, advanced manufacturing, and projects within the Mississippi River Basin. Notably, the bill includes increased funding for harbor maintenance, compared to the President's FY2016 budget request. The bill, as in years past, also includes some policy provisions. These include:
- a prohibition on open lake disposal of dredged materials in Lake Erie without approval by the state's water quality agency;
- a prohibition on spending for the Administration's Waters of the U.S. rule; and
- encouragement for the Corps to expedite its work on invasive species matters, including work with local and regional research partners and actions related to Asian carp.
The full House will review and potentially amend the bill this week. One expected amendment includes raising the level of funding for harbor maintenance, drawn from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, to the Water Resources Reform and Development Act target levels. Although not incorporated in final appropriations for FY2015, a similar amendment, led by Reps. Janice Hahn (CA-44) and Bill Huizegna (MI-02), passed the House last year. Passage by the House is expected this week.
For more information, contact Danielle Chesky, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Capitol Hill Briefing on Community Development Block Grant Program April 28
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Coalition, a group of 20 national organizations that supports higher funding for the CDBG program, will host an informative briefing on CDBG on April 28, 2015 at 3pm (Russell House Office Building Rm. 188). The CDBG program has been cut by nearly $1 billion since FY2010. The briefing will provide results from a recent CDBG Coalition survey on the consequences of these cuts to communities. The briefing will provide a brief overview of the program and remarks from elected officials and practitioners who work with the program. Panelists will include elected officials and experts from national community development organizations. Confirmed speakers are: The Honorable Setti Warren, Mayor of Newton, MA; The Honorable George P. Hartwick III, Commissioner of Dauphin County, PA; and Tim Ware, Executive Director of the George Washington Regional Commission, Fredericksburg, VA. Light refreshments will be served.
For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Brownfields Redevelopment Tax Incentive Reauthorization Act Reintroduced
Representative Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) reintroduced the Brownfields Redevelopment Tax Incentive Reauthorization Act of 2015, H.R. 2002, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend expensing of environmental remediation costs. NEMW Congressional Coalition Member Chris Gibson (R-NY) and Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and John Larson (D-CT) joined as original cosponsors. The bill reauthorizes a tax incentive known as the Section 198(a) expensing program that allows a taxpayer to fully deduct the costs of environmental cleanups on brownfields in the year the costs were incurred, rather than spreading them over a period of years.The Brownfields Tax Incentive was first passed as part of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. However, following a two-year extension in 2009, the incentive expired on January 1, 2012. The newly reintroduced legislation reauthorizes the tax incentive through December 31, 2019.
For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Funding Opportunity: ATSDR Community Health Projects Related to Contamination at Brownfield/Land Reuse Sites; Informational Call April 29
The competition is now open for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's (ATSDR) Community Health Projects Related to Contamination at Brownfield/Land Reuse Sites grants. ATSDR funds community health projects to ensure that public health is an integral part of the land reuse process. Projects under this opportunity will increase capacity to identify, address, and improve public health in redeveloping Brownfield/Land Reuse sites, ensuring that particular attention is paid to identifying and addressing health issues prior to redevelopment and assessing changes in community health associated with reuse plans and redevelopment. Letters of Intent are due May 20, 2015 and applications are due June 22, 2015. An informational call will be held this Wednesday, April 29 at 2pm (EST) (#1-866-707-8022; Passcode 4547257). More details and the grant application are available here.
For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Council of Development Finance Agencies to Host Brownfields Project Marketplace, May 19
The Council of Development Finance Agencies (
CDFA) will host a Brownfields Project Marketplace event on May 19, 2015 in Columbus, OH, from 1-5pm (EDT). The Brownfields Project Marketplace is an opportunity for communities to receive technical assistance related to the redevelopment and financing of brownfield projects. The Project Marketplace will consist of a brief presentation by a community detailing important information on their brownfield site followed by an open discussion period among community officials and technical assistance partners. Participants can consult with financing professionals and brownfield project experts who can help identify potential resources for a project. More information is available
here
. Register for the event
here
.
For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation
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