I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 336 

To amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to 

provide assistance to communities for the redevelopment of brownfield sites. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 25, 2005 

Mr. LYNCH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee 

on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Works and Economic Development 

Act of 1965 to provide assistance to communities for 

the redevelopment of brownfield sites. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Brownfields Improve5 ment Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 Consistent with section 2 of the Public Works and 

3 Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121), the 

4 purposes of this Act are— 

5 (1) to provide targeted assistance, including 

6 planning assistance, for projects that promote— 

7 (A) the redevelopment, restoration, and 

8 economic recovery of brownfield sites; and 

9 (B) eco-industrial development; and 

10 (2) through such assistance, to further the 

11 goals of restoring the employment and tax bases of, 

12 and bringing new income and private investment to, 

13 distressed communities that have not participated 

14 fully in the economic growth of the United States 

15 because of a lack of an adequate private sector tax 

16 base to support essential public services and facili17 ties. 

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

19 Section 3 of the Public Works and Economic Devel20 opment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3122) is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) 

22 and paragraphs (3) through (12) as paragraphs (2) 

23 and (3) and paragraphs (5) through (14), respec24 tively; 

25 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so re26 designated) the following: 
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1 ‘‘(1) BROWNFIELD SITE.—The term ‘brownfield 

2 site’ means a brownfield site (as defined in section 

3 101 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 

4 Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 

5 9601)) with respect to which an entity has received, 

6 or is eligible to receive, funding under section 104(k) 

7 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)) for site character8 ization, assessment, or remediation.’’; 

9 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) (as redesig10 nated by paragraph (1)) the following: 

11 ‘‘(4) ECO-INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT.—The 

12 term ‘eco-industrial development’ means develop13 ment conducted in a manner in which businesses co14 operate with each other and the local community to 

15 efficiently share resources (such as information, ma16 terials, water, energy infrastructure, and natural 

17 habitat) with the goals of— 

18 ‘‘(A) economic gains; 

19 ‘‘(B) improved environmental quality; and 

20 ‘‘(C) equitable enhancement of human re21 sources in businesses and local communities.’’; 

22 and 

23 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(15) UNUSED LAND.—The term ‘unused land’ 

25 means any publicly-owned or privately-owned un-
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1 used, underused, or abandoned land that is not con2 tributing to the quality of life or economic well-being 

3 of the community in which the land is located.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. COORDINATION. 

5 Section 103 of the Public Works and Economic De6 velopment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3132) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(c) BROWNFIELD SITE REDEVELOPMENT.—The 

9 Secretary shall coordinate activities relating to the redevel10 opment of brownfield sites and the promotion of eco-indus11 trial development under this Act with other Federal agen12 cies, States, local governments, consortia of local govern13 ments, Indian tribes, nonprofit organizations, and public14 private partnerships.’’. 

15 SEC. 5. GRANTS FOR BROWNFIELD SITE REDEVELOPMENT. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Public Works and 

17 Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3141 et 

18 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 219. GRANTS FOR BROWNFIELD SITE REDEVELOP20 MENT. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—On the application of an eligible 

22 recipient, the Secretary may make grants for projects to 

23 alleviate or prevent conditions of excessive unemployment, 

24 underemployment, blight, and infrastructure deterioration 
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1 associated with brownfield sites, including projects con2 sisting of— 

3 ‘‘(1) the development of public facilities; 

4 ‘‘(2) the development of public services; 

5 ‘‘(3) business development (including funding of 

6 a revolving loan fund); 

7 ‘‘(4) the development of affordable housing; 

8 ‘‘(5) planning; 

9 ‘‘(6) technical assistance; 

10 ‘‘(7) training; and 

11 ‘‘(8) the purchase of environmental insurance 

12 with respect to an activity described in any of para13 graphs (1) through (3). 

14 ‘‘(b) CRITERIA FOR GRANTS.—The Secretary may 

15 provide a grant for a project under this section only if— 

16 ‘‘(1) the Secretary determines that the project 

17 will assist the area where the project is or will be lo18 cated to meet, directly or indirectly, a special need 

19 arising from— 

20 ‘‘(A) a high level of unemployment or 

21 underemployment, or a high proportion of low22 income households; 

23 ‘‘(B) the existence of blight and infrastruc24 ture deterioration; 
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1 ‘‘(C) dislocations resulting from commer2 cial or industrial restructuring; 

3 ‘‘(D) outmigration and population loss, as 

4 indicated by— 

5 ‘‘(i)(I) depletion of human capital (in6 cluding young, skilled, or educated popu7 lations); 

8 ‘‘(II) depletion of financial capital (in9 cluding firms and investment); or 

10 ‘‘(III) a shrinking tax base; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) resulting— 

12 ‘‘(I) fiscal pressure; 

13 ‘‘(II) restricted access to mar14 kets; and 

15 ‘‘(III) constrained local develop16 ment potential; or 

17 ‘‘(E) the closure or realignment of— 

18 ‘‘(i) a military or Department of En19 ergy installation; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) any other Federal facility; 

21 ‘‘(2) except in the case of a project consisting 

22 of planning or technical assistance— 

23 ‘‘(A) the Secretary has approved a com24 prehensive economic development strategy for 
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1 the area where the project is or will be located; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) the project is consistent with the 

4 comprehensive economic development strategy; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(3) in the case only of a project consisting of 

7 the development of affordable housing, the Secretary 

8 determines that— 

9 ‘‘(A) a high level of housing need exists in 

10 the area in which the project is to be located, 

11 as determined by the most recent consolidated 

12 plan submitted by the applicable State, unit of 

13 general local government, or consortium pursu14 ant to 24 CFR Part 91; or 

15 ‘‘(B) the area in which the project is to be 

16 located has been approved for payment stand17 ards exceeding 110 percent of fair market rent18 al pursuant to section 8(o)(1)(D) of the United 

19 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f 

20 (o)(1)(D)) or is otherwise considered a high21 housing cost area for purposes of the program 

22 under such section 8. 

23 ‘‘(c) PARTICULAR COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE.—Assist24 ance under this section may include assistance provided 

25 for activities identified by a community, the economy of 
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1 which is injured by the existence of 1 or more brownfield 

2 sites, to assist the community in— 

3 ‘‘(1) revitalizing affected areas by— 

4 ‘‘(A) diversifying the economy of the com5 munity; or 

6 ‘‘(B) carrying out industrial or commercial 

7 (including mixed use) redevelopment, affordable 

8 housing development, or eco-industrial develop9 ment, projects on brownfield sites; 

10 ‘‘(2) carrying out development that conserves 

11 land by— 

12 ‘‘(A) reusing existing facilities and infra13 structure; 

14 ‘‘(B) reclaiming unused land and aban15 doned buildings; or 

16 ‘‘(C) promoting eco-industrial development, 

17 and environmentally responsible development, of 

18 brownfield sites; or 

19 ‘‘(3) carrying out a collaborative economic de20 velopment planning process, developed with broad21 based and diverse community participation, that ad22 dresses the economic repercussions and opportunities 

23 posed by the existence of brownfield sites in an area. 

24 ‘‘(d) DIRECT EXPENDITURE OR REDISTRIBUTION BY

25 ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

2 an eligible recipient of a grant under this section 

3 may directly expend the grant funds or may redis4 tribute the funds to public and private entities in the 

5 form of a grant, loan, loan guarantee, payment to 

6 reduce interest on a loan guarantee, or other appro7 priate assistance. 

8 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Under paragraph (1), an el9 igible recipient may not provide any grant to a pri10 vate for-profit entity.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con12 tents in section 1(b) of the Public Works and Economic 

13 Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 note) is 

14 amended by adding at the end of the items relating to 

15 title II the following: 

‘‘Sec. 219. Grants for brownfield site redevelopment.’’. 

16 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Public Works and 

18 Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3231 et 

19 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 705. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR 

21 BROWNFIELD SITE REDEVELOPMENT. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts made 

23 available under section 701, there is authorized to be ap24 propriated to carry out section 219 $75,000,000 for each 
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1 of fiscal years 2006 through 2010, to remain available 

2 until expended. 

3 ‘‘(b) FEDERAL SHARE.—Notwithstanding section 

4 204, and subject to section 205, the Federal share of the 

5 cost of activities funded with amounts made available 

6 under subsection (a) shall be not more than 75 percent.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con8 tents in section 1(b) of the Public Works and Economic 

9 Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 note) is 

10 amended by adding at the end of the items relating to 

11 title VII the following: 

‘‘Sec. 705. Authorization of appropriations for brownfield site redevelopment.’’. 

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