IIB 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 280 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 14, 2005 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

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) PURPOSE.—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 development and redevelopment of brownfield 

22 sites; 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 development and rede15 velopment of brownfield sites, which shall include mine16 scarred lands. 

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

18 grants under this section— 

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

20 of this section, only for activities specified in section 

21 108(a); 

22 ‘‘(2) shall be subject to the same requirements 

23 that, under section 101(c) and paragraphs (2) and 

24 (3) of section 104(b), apply to grants under section 

25 106; and 
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1 ‘‘(3) shall not be provided or used in a manner 

2 that reduces the financial responsibility of any non3 governmental party that is responsible or potentially 

4 responsible for contamination on any real property 

5 and the provision of assistance pursuant to this sec6 tion shall not in any way relieve any party of liabil7 ity with respect to such contamination, including li8 ability for removal and remediation costs. 

9 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

10 shall not require, for eligibility for a grant under this sec11 tion, that such grant amounts be used only in connection 

12 or conjunction with projects and activities assisted with 

13 a loan guaranteed under section 108. 

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

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

16 with procedures as shall be established by the Secretary. 

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

18 Secretary shall establish criteria for awarding grants 

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

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

21 private funds for the projects and activities to be assisted 

22 with grant amounts and such other criteria as the Sec23 retary considers appropriate. Such criteria shall include 

24 consideration of the appropriateness of the extent of finan-
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1 cial leveraging involved in the projects and activities to 

2 be funded with the grant amounts. 

3 ‘‘(f) DEFINITION OF BROWNFIELD SITE.—For pur4 poses of this section, the term ‘brownfield site’ has the 

5 meaning given such term in section 101(39) of the Com6 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 

7 Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601(39)). Such term 

8 includes a site that meets the requirements under sub9 paragraph (D) of such section for inclusion as a 

10 brownfield site for purposes of section 104(k) of such Act 

11 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)). 

12 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this 

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

15 years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOP17 MENT AS ELIGIBLE CDBG ACTIVITY. 

18 (a) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Subsection (a) of sec19 tion 105 of the Housing and Community Development Act 

20 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5305(a)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking paragraph (24) and all that fol22 lows through the end of the subsection and inserting 

23 the new paragraph (24) inserted by section 2(3) of 

24 Public Law 108–146 (117 Stat. 1883); 
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1 (2) by adding at the end (after the paragraph 

2 added by paragraph (1) of this subsection) the new 

3 paragraph (20) added by section 907(b)(1)(C) of 

4 Public Law 101–625 (104 Stat. 4388) and redesig5 nating such paragraph as paragraph (25); and 

6 (3) by adding at the end (after the paragraphs 

7 added by paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection) 

8 the new paragraph (21) added by section 

9 1012(f)(3)) of Public Law 102–550 (106 Stat. 

10 3905) and redesignating such paragraph as para11 graph (26). 

12 (b) BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.— 

13 Section 105(a) of the Housing and Community Develop14 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5305(a)), as in effect pursu15 ant to subsection (a) of this section, is amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (24) (as added by subsection 

17 (a)(1) of this section), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

18 (2) in paragraph (25) (as added by subsection 

19 (a)(2) of this section), by striking the period at the 

20 end and inserting a semicolon; 

21 (3) in paragraph (26) (as added by subsection 

22 (a)(3) of this section), by striking the period at the 

23 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

24 (4) by adding at the end the following new 

25 paragraph: 
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1 ‘‘(27) economic development and redevelopment 

2 activities related to projects for brownfields sites (as 

3 such term is defined in section 123(f)), in conjunc4 tion with the appropriate environmental regulatory 

5 agencies, except that assistance pursuant to this 

6 paragraph shall not be provided in a manner that re7 duces the financial responsibility of any nongovern8 mental party that is responsible or potentially re9 sponsible for contamination on any real property and 

10 the provision of assistance pursuant to this para11 graph shall not in any way relieve any party of li12 ability with respect to such contamination, including 

13 liability for removal and remediation costs.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT TO ALLOW USE OF CDBG 

15 FUNDS TO ADMINISTER RENEWAL COMMU16 NITIES. 

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

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

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

20 ‘‘enterprise zones’’. 

21 SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY. 

22 The amendments made by this Act shall apply only 

23 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. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 13, 

2005. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk.