With just hours to go until the close of the legislative session, talks over how to overhaul the Brownfield Cleanup Program [1] are looking grim, says The New York Times [2]. As the State's financial situation is in its own decline, the brownfields program has shown to be a costly $3.1 billion investment.

If the issue is unresolved by Monday, hundreds of brownfields and cleanup organizations will have unsure futures.

For the 200 projects currently in production, companies who sponsor the contaminated land cleanup receive a generous tax-credit that has added up to the billions of dollars in price. Governor Paterson [3] hoped the credits could be limited, while members of Senate wanted no restriction. If the issue is not resolved today, it will have to wait until the new legislative year to be reexamined.

"The failure to fix the brownfields program before the legislative session ends will be a disaster for desperately needed economic development in New York, and for families living next to these contaminated sites for years," said Mathy Stanislaus, co-director of non-profit development organization, New Partners for Community Revitalization [4].