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Union Calendar No. 80

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 280

[Report No. 109–138] 

To facilitate the provision of assistance by the Department of Housing and 

Urban Development for the cleanup and economic redevelopment of 

brownfields. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2005

Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California (for himself, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. OXLEY, 

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. NEY, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. LEACH, 

Ms. HART, Mr. SOUDER, and Mr. TURNER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

JUNE 16, 2005

Additional sponsors: Mr. SHAYS, Mr. MCHUGH, and Mr. PASCRELL

JUNE 16, 2005

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 

A BILL

To facilitate the provision of assistance by the Department 

of Housing and Urban Development for the cleanup and 

economic redevelopment of brownfields.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Brownfields Redevelop3 ment Enhancement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

6 (1) returning the Nation’s brownfield sites to 

7 productive economic use could generate more than 

8 550,000 additional jobs and up to $2,400,000,000 

9 in new tax revenues for cities and towns; 

10 (2) redevelopment of brownfield sites and reuse 

11 of infrastructure at such sites will protect natural 

12 resources and open spaces; 

13 (3) lack of funding for redevelopment is a pri14 mary obstacle impeding the reuse of brownfield sites; 

15 (4) the Department of Housing and Urban De16 velopment is the agency of the Federal Government 

17 that is principally responsible for supporting commu18 nity development and encouraging productive land 

19 use in urban areas of the United States; 

20 (5) grants under the Brownfields Economic De21 velopment Initiative of the Department of Housing 

22 and Urban Development provide local governments 

23 with a flexible source of funding to pursue 

24 brownfields redevelopment through land acquisition, 

25 site preparation, economic development, and other 

26 activities; 
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1 (6) to be eligible for such grant funds, a com2 munity must be willing to pledge community devel3 opment block grant funds as partial collateral for a 

4 loan guarantee under section 108 of the Housing 

5 and Community Development Act of 1974, and this 

6 requirement is a barrier to many local communities 

7 that are unable or unwilling to pledge such block 

8 grant funds as collateral; and 

9 (7) by de-linking grants for brownfields develop10 ment from section 108 community development loan 

11 guarantees and the related pledge of community de12 velopment block grant funds, more communities will 

13 have access to funding for redevelopment of 

14 brownfield sites. 

15 (b) PURPOSES.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

16 cities and towns with more flexibility for brownfields devel17 opment, increased accessibility to brownfields redevelop18 ment funds, and greater capacity to coordinate and col19 laborate with other government agencies—

20 (1) by providing additional incentives to invest 

21 in the cleanup and development of brownfield sites; 

22 and 

23 (2) by de-linking grants for brownfields develop24 ment from community development loan guarantees 
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1 and the related pledge of community development 

2 block grant funds. 

3 SEC. 3. BROWNFIELDS DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE. 

4 Title I of the Housing and Community Development 

5 Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) is amended by add6 ing at the end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 123. BROWNFIELDS DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make grants 

9 under this section, on a competitive basis as specified in 

10 section 102 of the Department of Housing and Urban De11 velopment Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3545), only to 

12 eligible public entities (as such term is defined in section 

13 108(o) of this title) and Indian tribes for carrying out 

14 projects and activities to assist the environmental cleanup 

15 and development of brownfield sites, which shall include 

16 mine-scarred lands. 

17 ‘‘(b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Amounts from 

18 grants under this section shall—

19 ‘‘(1) be used, as provided in subsection (a) of 

20 this section, only for activities specified in section 

21 108(a); and 

22 ‘‘(2) be subject to the same requirements that, 

23 under section 101(c) and paragraphs (2) and (3) of 

24 section 104(b), apply to grants under section 106. 
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1 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

2 shall not require, for eligibility for a grant under this sec3 tion, that such grant amounts be used only in connection 

4 or conjunction with projects and activities assisted with 

5 a loan guaranteed under section 108. 

6 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—Applications for assistance 

7 under this section shall be in the form and in accordance 

8 with procedures as shall be established by the Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(e) SELECTION CRITERIA AND LEVERAGING.—The 

10 Secretary shall establish criteria for awarding grants 

11 under this section, which may include the extent to which 

12 the applicant has obtained other Federal, State, local, or 

13 private funds for the projects and activities to be assisted 

14 with grant amounts and such other criteria as the Sec15 retary considers appropriate. Such criteria shall include 

16 consideration of the appropriateness of the extent of finan17 cial leveraging involved in the projects and activities to 

18 be funded with the grant amounts. 

19 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this 

21 section such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal 

22 years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.’’. 
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1 SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOP2 MENT AS ELIGIBLE CDBG ACTIVITY. 

3 (a) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—The penultimate pro4 viso of the first undesignated paragraph of the item relat5 ing to ‘‘Community Development Block Grants Fund’’ in 

6 title II of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Hous7 ing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies 

8 Appropriations Act, 1997 (Public Law 104–204; 110 Stat. 

9 2887) shall be treated as having amended section 105(a) 

10 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 

11 (42 U.S.C. 5305(a)) to read as such section was in effect 

12 on September 30, 1995. 

13 (b) BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.—

14 Section 105(a) of the Housing and Community Develop15 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5305(a)), as in effect pursu16 ant to subsection (a) of this section, is amended—

17 (1) in paragraph (24), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

18 end; 

19 (2) in paragraph (25), by striking the period at 

20 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

22 paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(26) environmental cleanup and economic de24 velopment activities related to brownfield projects in 

25 conjunction with the appropriate environmental reg26 ulatory agencies.’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. PILOT PROGRAM FOR NATIONAL REDEVELOPMENT 

2 OF BROWNFIELDS. 

3 Section 108(q) of the Housing and Community De4 velopment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5308(q)) is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(5) PILOT PROGRAM FOR NATIONAL REDEVEL7 OPMENT OF BROWNFIELDS.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Using any amounts 

9 made available under this subsection, the Sec10 retary may establish a pilot program under 

11 which grants under this subsection are used to 

12 develop, maintain, and administer (including 

13 the payment of an entity or entities selected 

14 pursuant to subparagraph (B)) a common loan 

15 pool of development loans for brownfield rede16 velopment projects made on behalf of eligible 

17 public entities with the proceeds of obligations 

18 guaranteed under this section, including related 

19 security and a common loans loss reserve ac20 count, for the benefit of participants in the pilot 

21 program. 

22 ‘‘(B) SELECTION OF PROGRAM MANAGERS

23 AND CONTRACTORS.—The Secretary may select 

24 an entity or entities on a competitive or non25 competitive basis to carry out any of the func26 tions involved in the pilot program. 
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1 ‘‘(C) TERMS FOR PARTICIPATION.—Par2 ticipation by eligible public entities in the pilot 

3 program shall be under such terms and condi4 tions as the Secretary may require. 

5 ‘‘(D) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA6 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro7 priated such sums as may be necessary—

8 ‘‘(i) for grants under this subsection 

9 to be used only in conjunction with the 

10 pilot program under this paragraph; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) for costs of carrying out the pilot 

12 program under this paragraph and ensur13 ing that the program is carried out in an 

14 effective, efficient, and viable manner.’’. 

15 SEC. 6. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT TO ALLOW USE OF CDBG 

16 FUNDS TO ADMINISTER RENEWAL COMMU17 NITIES. 

18 Section 105(a)(13) of the Housing and Community 

19 Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(13)) is 

20 amended by inserting ‘‘and renewal communities’’ after 

21 ‘‘enterprise zones’’. 

22 SEC. 7. APPLICABILITY. 

23 The amendments made by this Act shall apply only 

24 with respect to amounts made available for fiscal year 
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1 2006 and fiscal years thereafter for use under the provi2 sions of law amended by this Act. 
Union Calendar No. 80

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 280

[Report No. 109–138] 

A BILL

To facilitate the provision of assistance by the Debrownfields. the cleanup and economic redevelopment of partment of Housing and Urban Development for 

JUNE 16, 2005

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed