The bill also includes an exemption, which would also last through 2015, for those who have been issued covenants not to sue under the VAP from certain fees and penalties for a year after the covenant's issuance.
Sears pointed to her involvement with an automotive taskforce as providing her with additional insight into the situation.
"It dawned on me just how many empty buildings and factories we have throughout our communities," she said, noting the possibility that the languishing sites could be posing environmental issues.
"We have to 'supercharge' the value of doing (a VAP)," she added.
According to the EPA's website, www.epa.ohio.gov, the VAP was "created to give individuals a way to investigate possible environmental contamination, clean it up if necessary and receive a promise from the state of Ohio that no more cleanup is needed."
Heidi Griesmer, Ohio EPA spokeswoman, said that while the agency hasn't taken a formal stance on HB 569, officials have "concerns about the legislation as written" and have expressed their thoughts to Sears.
Griesmer said the EPA doesn't want to create a situation in which a site was remediated but then had hazard waste dumped on the land without consequence.
"Now, we can't go after you," she said, while adding that the agency has created initiatives designed to drum up remediation. "We do want to see redevelopment."
The bill would have the EPA director adopt rules necessary to allow a person, who has a covenant not to sue, to be exempt from any fees or civil or administrative penalties that could be levied under any environmental law with respect to the site that is the subject of the covenant not to sue.
One of the bill's co-sponsors, Rep. Clyde Evans, R-Rio Grande, called Sears a "thoughtful and conservative" representative and said he believes in the overall purpose of the proposed legislation.
"We need to continue to work diligently to clean up (those sites)," he said.
HB 569 states that the refundable tax credits could be worth up to 50 percent of the remediation expenditures paid or incurred by an entity. The credits could be claimed in two 25 percent allotments. The first being after the issuance of the covenant not to sue and the second being after the property is put into productive use.
The bill defines productive use as the property being by any person to conduct a trade or business or if the property is used for residential purposes.
Tax credits for remediation expenditures would be limited to "expenditures that are made directly to conduct remedial activities on property that is the subject of a voluntary action for which a covenant not to sue has been issued" and do not include expenditures for remedial activities derived from grants or other funds from governmental entities where there is no repayment obligation.
In meeting with people prior to introducing the bill, Sears said, she kept hearing regulations and high costs as reasons for their reluctance to redevelop property.
"Trying to deal with the EPA can be complicated," she said. "We need to have balance. We are spending an awful lot of taxpayer money to clean up private industry issues."
Sears, who said she believes investors will take action if "the numbers make sense," noted that she has received positive feedback regarding HB 569.
"It's time to get private money to do the clean up and this may just push it over the edge," she said.
Rep. Richard Adams, R-Troy, co-sponsored the bill and said utilizing abandoned sites in a productive manner would benefit the entire state.
"This is not only a Columbus or Dayton problem, it is affecting much smaller cities," he said. "For some time it has been clear that abandoning brownfield sites is counterproductive."
Adams and Sears also spoke against notions that the state can not afford to extend the refundable tax credits.
"I look at it in terms of front ending," said Adams, adding that the redeveloped sites could go on to generate revenue streams.
Sears agreed, saying that if a site were rehabilitated and then given a productive use, it would "clearly offset the refundable tax credit."
The legislation was co-sponsored by Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, R-Napoleon, Rep. Gerald Stebelton, R-Lancaster, and Rep. John Adams, R-Sidney., TIFFANY L. PARKS, Daily Reporter Staff Writer, Copyright 2010, The Daily Reporter, 580 S. High St., Columbus, OH., In an effort to revitalize property that currently is home to empty
buildings and factories, Rep. Barbara Sears, R-Sylvania, has introduced
House Bill 569 into the Ohio General Assembly., publish, open, , , Bill designed to boost site remediation through refundable tax credits, 2011-11-07 20:50:36, , 0, , Representative Barbara Sears, House Bill 569, HB 569, Ohio general Assembly, Tax Credits, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Voluntary Action Program, VAP, 0, 1, 1, article, 1, 0, 0, 2010-09-07, 2, 2">
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