NBAC Director Testifies on BUILD Act Before U.S. Senate Committee

On March 2, Patrick Kirby, director of the Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center at West Virginia University, provided testimony on the BUILD Act before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works. The hearing focused on Senate Bill 1479, Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act of 2015, Senate Bill 2446, Improving Coal Combustion Residuals Regulation Act of 2016 and Discussion Draft of Good Samaritan Cleanup of Orphan Mines Act of 2016.

In his testimony, Kirby discussed why the BUILD Act matters. Specifically, he noted that the BUILD Act expands the eligibility of certain types of property to apply for brownfields funds, expands eligible applicants to include non-profit organizations which are often the entity in the community best suited to help move the project forward and eliminated the prohibition of the use of the funds to cover administrative costs, which can be a large task.

Watch Kirby’s testimony here (his testimony begins at 1:21:30) or you can find a pdf version of his testimony here.