There's still time in the current legislative session in Albany to shore up a huge loophole in the state's brownfield cleanup program.

The state offers tax credits to builders to encourage the cleanup and development of brownfields, land contaminated with industrial pollutants.

Designed to fight urban blight, the program is not working the way it was intended to.

Instead of making an impact on properties that would otherwise sit idle, the program has become a cash cow for developers of lots in places like Manhattan and Westchester County that would have been profitable projects even without the incentives.

Millions of dollars are benefiting developers in markets where land to build on is in high demand, making the state cleanup money a bonus, not an incentive.

Meanwhile, in many upstate communities, properties that might have been cleaned up with the help of this program remain untouched.

The formula for the disbursement of incentives needs to be changed to put the redevelopment of upstate lots on more of an even playing field with properties in more desirable locations.

Revised versions of the brownfield program have been introduced by both the state Assembly and Senate, but there's no indication a consensus can be reached before June 23, the end of the current session.

Since the start of a 90-day moratorium on new projects, put in place to give lawmakers time to revise the rules on the brownfield program, we've seen plenty of news releases and check presentations related to the passage of the state budget, but no progress on this meaningful legislation that will benefit the people of the state.

The brownfield program is broken. Our lawmakers should be fixing it rather than grandstanding over the pork they managed to get out of the people's tax dollars this year.