Assembly passes bill to broaden community access to brownfield technical‑assistance near schools

The Assembly passed legislation designed to expand community access to technical‑assistance grants for brownfield sites near schools and daycares, and to allow community boards to qualify for those grants to increase local participation and oversight.

Member Lee explained her vote in favor, recounting an example from her district where a former thermometer factory near a school was found to be heavily contaminated with mercury. "Mercury is a known neurotoxin ... and is especially toxic for children," Lee said, describing how community members struggled to obtain technical assistance and later relied on help from the borough president to hire an independent community monitor.

Lee said the bill will "help communities with brownfield sites near schools or daycares access technical assistance grants and allow community boards to qualify to receive these grants to enhance community input," and added that the measure would give communities "the resources, knowledge, and power to advocate for their children and will help hold developers accountable." The Assembly recorded the vote and the bill passed on the floor.

The transcript shows the measure moved through the consent calendar and was recorded as passed by the Assembly; members said the change is intended to reduce bureaucratic barriers to community participation in brownfield remediation near sensitive sites.

The bill will proceed through the subsequent steps in the legislative process for enactment and implementation.