Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection recognizes 20th anniversary of Land Recycling Program

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) released a video on Tuesday to honor the 20th anniversary of Pennsylvania’s land recycling laws, featuring Gov. Tom Wolf and former Gov. Tom Ridge, who signed them into law in 1995.

“You talk about recycling plastic," Ridge said. "You talk about recycling paper. How about recycling land? We thought it was a green initiative because, for every company you support building on the old infrastructure, you're not building on green fields.”

The Land Recycling Program encourages the use of so-called brownfields, including whatever cleanups are necessary for contaminated sites, thorough liability relief for any environmental issues brought about by previous operators and financial assistance. The program also creates standards for the site cleanups, reviews and time limits.

“For every acre of brownfields we restore, we save around four acres of green space,” Wolf said. “It’s really important.”

The video was officially unveiled at the Pennsylvania Brownfields conference last week, where it was seen by regional redevelopment and remediation experts.

“This program is transformative,” said DEP Acting Secretary John Quigley, in his keynote address at the conference. “It takes dilapidated, blighted properties and returns them to the tax rolls, creates jobs, creates housing opportunities and restores community pride.”