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BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM (Amended as of 9/4/24)


Revisions to this program were signed into law on 9/4/24NJEDA is currently developing new rules to implement these changes, with an expected release in Summer/Fall 2025. The new application will be posted here after the rules are issued. The program is not currently accepting applications.

The Brownfields Redevelopment Incentive Program is a $50 million per year project-based tax credit. The program provides a one-time transferrable tax credit to incentivize environmental remediation, abatement, and demolition activities that will allow for the redevelopment of brownfields sites for commercial, retail, or mixed-use development or expansion.   

ELIGIBILITY

The Brownfields Redevelopment Incentive Program covers specific costs associated with brownfield remediation. Eligible costs include those associated with investigation and remediation of environmental contamination and building and structural remedial activities.

Tax credits will be awarded through a rolling application process.

To receive tax credits through the Brownfields Redevelopment Incentive Program, a project must meet the following criteria:

  • Be a brownfield.
  • Receive a letter of support from the governing body.
  • Demonstrate the project is not economically feasible without the tax credit award.
  • Comply with prevailing wage requirements, including:
    • Construction prevailing wage for all remediation and construction work at the project site until the later of the completion of the redevelopment project or two years after the tax credit is issued.
    • Building services prevailing wage for 10 years after the redevelopment project is completed.
  • The Developer (or their affiliates) must not have started remediation activities (beyond environmental assessment and investigation), except in two cases:
    • If remediation was ordered by a government official with jurisdiction over the site, or certified by a Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) to correct or prevent the spread of a health, safety, or other hazard.
    • If the applicant certifies that they could not reasonably have known the full extent of contamination before beginning cleanup efforts.
  • Demonstrate that remediation costs are reasonable and appropriate.
  • Be in good standing with NJ Department of Environmental Protection, NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and NJ Department of the Treasury.
  • Have a developer equity contribution of a minimum of 20% of total cost of remediation (10% in Government Restricted Municipalities and Qualified Incentive Tracts).
  • Have site access to perform the remediation.
  • Meet Green Remediation/Green Building Standards.
  • For projects over $5 million that are not located in Atlantic City, Paterson, or Trenton, the applicant must demonstrate a project financing gap.
    • Projects located in Atlantic City, Paterson, or Trenton, as well as projects under $5 million, are not required to meet this criterion.

Additional notes on eligibility:

  • Cannabis Businesses are not eligible.
  • The redevelopment project can be a remediation-only project.
  • Parties that have discharged a hazardous substance or otherwise caused or contributed to site contamination are not eligible for the program.
  • Projects that received a reimbursement through the former Brownfield Contaminated Site Reimbursement Program are not eligible.

Please be advised: New Jersey State law prohibits most cannabis license and certification holders from receiving or continuing to receive an economic incentive from the NJEDA. If the applicant, or any person who controls the applicant or owns or controls more than one percent of the stock of the applicant, has applied for or received a license or a certification from the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC), the applicant is ineligible for this program and should not proceed with an application. If an application is received from an applicant that meets these criteria, the application will be declined, and the application fee will not be refunded.

“Brownfield site” means any real property in this State that is currently vacant or underutilized and on which there has been, or there is suspected to have been, a discharge of a contaminant or on which there is contaminated building material.

“Redevelopment project” means a specific remediation project undertaken, pursuant to the terms of a redevelopment agreement, by a developer within an area of land whereon a brownfield site is located.

“Government-restricted municipality” means a municipality in this State with a municipal revitalization index distress score of at least 75, that met the criteria for designation as an urban aid municipality in the 2019 State fiscal year, and that on January 7, 2021, the effective date of

P.L. 2020, c. 156 (N.J.S.A. 34:1B-269 et seq.), is subject to financial restrictions imposed pursuant to the “Municipal Stabilization and Recovery Act,” P.L. 2016, c. 4 (N.J.S.A. 52:27BBBB-1 et seq.), or is restricted in its ability to levy property taxes on property in that municipality as a result of the State of New Jersey owning or controlling property representing at least 25 percent of the total land area of the municipality or as a result of the Federal government of the United States owning or controlling at least 50 acres of the total land area of the municipality, which is dedicated as a national natural landmark.

“Qualified incentive tract” means either a population census tract having a poverty rate of 20 percent or more or a census tract in which the median family income for the census tract does not exceed 80 percent of the greater of the Statewide median family income or the median family income of the metropolitan statistical area in which the census tract is situated.

Questions regarding the Brownfields Redevelopment Incentive Program can be addressed to BFtaxcredit@njeda.gov


PROGRAM GUIDE

PROGRAM LEGISLATION SIGNED BY GOVERNOR MURPHY ON 9/4/24 PROCESS ROADMAP Program flyer HOW TO IDENTIFY A BROWNFIELD SITE

QUESTIONS

For more information or to ask a specific question, please send an email to bftaxcredit@njeda.gov and a team member will reach out to you.

Please contact the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection at edataxinc@dep.nj.gov for questions regarding:

  • Whether the site of the redevelopment project is a brownfield site pursuant to N.J.S.A. 34:1B-280.
  • A determination as to whether the applicant/developer is considered a discharger of a hazardous substance at the brownfields site, or is a corporate successor to the discharger or to any person in any way responsible for the hazardous substance or to anyone liable for cleanup and removal costs pursuant to N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11g, N.J.S.A. 34:1B-281, and N.J.A.C. 19:31-27.3.