Source: Environmental News Service
A bill to expand the definition of "contaminated site" and to remove the sunset provision of the Mississippi Economic Redevelopment Act (§57-91-1) died in committee last week. Prior to sunsetting, the Mississippi Economic Redevelopment Act, administered by the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA), was designed to encourage economic development on and around one site in Vicksburg, Mississippi. To promote redevelopment, this act provided incentives to defray the remediation costs associated with cleaning up the contaminated property.
By expanding the definition to include all brownfield agreement sites, counties and/or municipalities that contain properties with environmental contamination were able to apply for approval for this incentive. Once MDA granted approval for the project, all sales, income, and franchise taxes collected from businesses located in the redevelopment project area would be deposited into a special fund that would be used to reimburse developers for approved cleanup costs. Reimbursement to developers would be made semi-annually for a period of up to 10 years, with a maximum distribution to the developer of two and a half times the allowable remediation costs.
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