New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has named Dr. Daniel C. Walsh, a top state environmental official, to serve as the first director of the city’s new brownfield office.

Walsh’s appointment and the simultaneous opening of the city brownfield office, known as the Office of Environmental Remedation, are key elements in achieving the ambitious brownfield goals that Mayor Bloomberg set forth in PlaNYC, the city’s sustainability plan.

Walsh has served as Chief of the New York City Brownfield and Superfund Program for the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) since 2003.

“The top performer at DEC in terms of getting brownfields cleaned up will now be running the city program,” said Larry Schnapf, an environmental attorney at Schulte Roth & Zabel. Schnapf described Walsh’s approach as “common sense, practical and protective.”

Walsh, who opened OER on May 23, is building the new city office from scratch. His reputation and the resources PlaNYC has committed to brownfields are important factors in the Bloomberg Administration’s current campaign to persuade state lawmakers in Albany, now debating how to reform the BCP tax credits to also grant the city authority to operate its own local voluntary program before they adjourn for the summer.

PlaNYC calls on the city and state to increase the pace of remediation at city sites. The plan estimated that the city has 7,600 acres of brownfields, an area eight times the size of Central Park. When remediated, brownfields represent a major new supply of buildable space in the largely built-out city for homes, work places and parks.

At present, the State, through the BCP, oversees cleanups at 57 sites totaling 160 acres. In addition, the city’s Department of Environmental Protection annually oversees remediation of approximately 200 sites through the city’s E-designation program. The E program provides notice of potential hazardous material contamination at a particular tax lot, which a developer must address with DEP before it can obtain a city building permit. Despite the state and city programs, the vast majority of cleanups in New York City are conducted by developers themselves because self-directed cleanups are the fastest, cheapest way to clean dirty land. Reducing the number of self-directed cleanups with remedies that meet state soil standards is an important objective of PlaNYC. �

Another challenge the city faces is that sites with historic fill, the most common contaminant found in the city, are ineligible for the BCP. To address this obstacle, PlaNYC proposes to create a streamlined local voluntary program for historic fill and other moderately contaminated sites.

It would offer streamlined procedures, public participation, sites cleaned to state standards, and a state- and city-issued liability release.

“I believe our program will attract developers,” Walsh said, “because it represents a quantum advance from existing brownfield programs. A principal concern of developers is the slow pace and uncertainty in the remedial process. We are building this program from the ground up, to provide more predictability to speed document approval and to be more responsive to common needs, like city permit acquisition. We will deliver high-quality remedies and we will deliver them faster.”

With the BCP, other state programs and an expanded city local program, the number of city sites cleaned to state standards and redeveloped will grow over the next few years.

Walsh’s goal is to build a local cleanup program over time, working closely with DEC, communities, developers and environmental groups.

Walsh’s appointment was praised by Mathy Stanislaus, co-director of New Partners for Community Revitalization, a non-profit group that promotes a strong role for communities in brownfield redevelopment.

“This is an important milestone for PlaNYC,” Stanislaus said of Walsh’s appointment. � “With Dan’s experience and proven track record, we are confident that the city will advance the interest of low and moderate income communities where so many brownfield sites are located.“

“I plan to provide innovative new ways to engage and support our local communities, to introduce a variety of new programs that incorporate sustainability principles into the cleanup process and to provide new services to encourage enrollment by property owners and developers in our cleanup programs,” Walsh said of his plans for the new office. “We will become the first brownfield program in the U.S. to include sustainability as a remedial selection criteria and to require a sustainability statement in remedial action plans. You can expect the new Office of Environmental Remediation to be a leader in this area.”

Daniel C. Walsh previously served as acting chief of NYC DEC's solid waste division.