Benefits to communities include:

Establishes a Community Vision and Strategy for Revitalization - A community based revitalization plan and implementation strategy is established to spur investment in distressed areas by establishing clear priorities for redevelopment and other actions for community renewal and improved quality of life. The plan provides a proactive and systematic way to address brownfields and to return them to productive use.

Provides a Remediation Strategy for Catalyst Sites - By conducting site assessments, to determine the nature and extent of contamination, on strategic brownfield sites expected to catalyze redevelopment, communities can better understand options and costs for remediation and redevelopment.

Provides Site Inventory - an accurate and clear inventory and description of brownfield sites and other underutilized properties to serve as a basis for identifying strategic redevelopment opportunities.

Defines Future Uses and Businesses - New uses and businesses that are desired by the community for strategic brownfield sites will be clearly defined, a key for the successful redevelopment of brownfields.

Increases Predictability - For those who are looking to invest in the area, the program provides increased predictability in terms of community acceptance by giving developers a clear indication of uses and businesses that the community wants, and does not want, as expressed in the plan.

Fulfills Community Development Needs - Communities will be able to work more effectively with developers to transform brownfields from liabilities to assets by establishing new uses and businesses that are clearly desired by the community and will contribute to the community in a beneficial way, generating jobs and revenues.

Improves Environmental Quality - Environmental quality improves by cleaning up contaminated properties, removing eyesores, and implementation of other environmental and public improvement projects identified in the community driven revitalization plan.

Fosters Partnerships With State Agencies - The program is designed to establish a working partnership between communities and state agencies to address a variety of issues related to community planning and zoning, brownfield clean-up and redevelopment, economic renewal, improving transportation systems and infrastructure, and improving environmental quality.

Increases Competitiveness for Other Funding Programs - With a community supported BOA plan in place, communities will increase their competitiveness to leverage funds from a variety of sources to make brownfields ripe for private investment and for projects to implement their plan. Designated areas shall receive priority and preference from DEC's Environmental Restoration and Environmental Protection Fund Programs. Designated areas may also receive priority and preference when considered for other state and federal programs.

Benefits to property owners and communities include:

Assessment of Site Contamination - Site assessment funding, to determine the nature and extent of contamination, is available on a competitive basis for strategic BOA sites which will be developed in a manner consistent with the community BOA plan. To be eligible, the owner must not be responsible for the environmental conditions at the site.

Applications for additional funding - Environmental data compiled as part of the BOA planning process may aid in an application to the BCP.

Improving Property Values and the Community

Increased Property Values - With strong local leadership as the plan’s primary advocate and sponsor, the BOA plan can induce public and private-sector investment leading to community revitalization and increased property values over time.

Infrastructure and Transportation Improvements - The re-development potential of private properties may benefit from identified transportation, infrastructure and other community related improvements in BOA areas.

Public and Environmental Improvement Projects - Public improvement projects, identified through BOA, such as parks, esplanades, or streetscape improvements and/or environmental improvement projects, such as a stream corridor or habitat restoration project, will have an overall positive impact on the quality of the community leading to increased property values and marketability.

Marketing to Solicit Investors and Developers

Site Renderings - The BOA Program will fund renderings of private redevelopment projects on BOA strategic sites to illustrate the redevelopment potential of the property.

Marketing Brochure - A marketing brochure may be produced for a BOA featuring strategic sites and renderings of proposed development projects. The marketing brochure will show key redevelopment projects and priorities for public and private-sector investments. The brochure may be posted on the DEC and DOS websites.

Marketing of Sites - The marketing brochure will be complemented by direct marketing of strategic sites by Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC). To support these efforts, each BOA will produce descriptive profiles of brownfield sites that will be marketed to developers by ESDC.

Facilitating the Development Process

Convening Parties to Foster Development - Grantees (for the Nomination and Implementation Strategy) can hire a neutral, objective consultant to work as a liaison on behalf of the grantee, private landowner, and development interests to explore project feasibility, and deal structure alternatives for the privately held property.

SEQRA - SEQR is blended into the BOA planning process. A GEIS will be undertaken and completed as part of BOA. Property owners and developers will save time in the development process if redevelopment plans are within the scope of the approved GEIS document by eliminating the need to prepare a site specific EIS.