WHEREAS, much progress has been made over the past ten years in cleaning up and redeveloping brownfield sites,but hundreds of thousands of brownfield sites remain in communities throughout the nation; and

WHEREAS, brownfield sites are opportunities for economic development, job creation, and environmental improvements within the nation’s communities; and

WHEREAS, the nation’s mayors recognize that private capital is an extremely important complement to the investment of public resources in brownfield redevelopment projects, helping to accelerate the number of cleanups and redevelopments; and

WHEREAS, the existing federal Brownfields Tax Incentive, which allows cleanup costs and related costs to be "expensed" for certain brownfield sites, has proven to be a valuable tool in helping to attract private capital for the cleanup and development of brownfield sites; and

WHEREAS, the federal Brownfields Tax Incentive is set to expire on December 31, 2005; and

WHEREAS, the Bush Administration has proposed a permanent extension of the federal Brownfields Tax Incentive; and

WHEREAS, proposals have been introduced in Congress that would expand the Brownfields Tax Incentive, including a proposal to make petroleum sites eligible for the Incentive and a proposal to limit recapture penalties so that developers could take advantage of the Incentive even if they do not intend to be the site’s end user; and

WHEREAS, another proposal recently introduced in Congress, the Brownfields Tax Credit Program, would provide $1 billion in federal tax credits to help fund the costs of demolition and remediation for brownfield redevelopment projects; and

WHEREAS, the nation's mayors believe that all of these proposals are very important tools for encouraging and attracting private capital to accelerate brownfields redevelopment, and thereby helping to improve the nation’s communities;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors hereby urges Congress to enact legislation in 2005 to make the Brownfields Tax Incentive permanent; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in the absence of legislation this year that would permanently extend the Brownfields Tax Incentive, The U.S. Conference of Mayors hereby urges Congress enact legislation to extend the current Brownfield Tax Incentive beyond 2005 so that it will continue to be available; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors hereby urges the Congress to enact legislation to expand the universe of brownfield sites or the types of costs eligible for the Brownfields Tax Incentive in order to further accelerate the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield sites in the nation’s communities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors hereby urges the Congress to enact the proposed Brownfields Tax Credit Program to help fund the costs of demolition and remediation in order to further accelerate the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield sites in the nation’s communities.