Section 31-21-4 - Purpose of articleThe purpose of this article is to provide for the creation of a special purpose nonprofit corporation with a comprehensive mission to:
(1) Assist the DEP in utilizing a voluntary land stewardship program for the long-term safeguarding of IEC Sites to ensure that the remedy remains protective of human health and the environment and to facilitate further economic development and reuse opportunities;(2) Provide the DEP and other parties with a reliable source of oversight, monitoring and information about IEC Sites under the voluntary land stewardship program;(3) Establish a land bank as a legal and financial mechanism to accept title to properties and assist in transforming idled and underutilized properties back to productive reuse;(4) Facilitate reuse and redevelopment by authorizing the conveyance of certain properties to a land bank under a voluntary land bank program and assist the state and local governments with the assembly and clearance of title to property in a coordinated manner;(5) Promote economic growth by implementing a state certified sites program to identify sites that are ready for construction within twelve months or less and that are certified "project-ready" for specific industry profiles as well as other categories of sites identified for economic development opportunities;(6) Provide voluntary programs on a fee or subscription basis with the nonprofit corporation to protect human health and the environment as well as assist with a variety of economic development efforts throughout the state; and(7) Prescribe the powers and duties of the nonprofit corporation; provide for the creation and appointment of a board to govern the nonprofit corporation and to prescribe its powers and duties; and to extend protections against certain environmental liabilities to the nonprofit corporation in order to protect it from liabilities created by third parties.Added by 2013 Acts, ch. 38 (HB 2590), eff. 7/12/2013.