I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1381

To establish a national program to stimulate urban economic redevelopment

through environmental remediation and restoration, as well as through

the development of inner city businesses and employment in the fields

of environmental response, remediation, and restoration.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 3, 1995

Mrs. MEEK of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on

Commerce, Economic and Educational Opportunities, National Security,

and Transportation and Infrastructure, 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 establish a national program to stimulate urban economic

redevelopment through environmental remediation and

restoration, as well as through the development of inner

city businesses and employment in the fields of environmental response, remediation, and restoration.

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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Comprehensive Economic and Environmental Recovery

4 Act of 1995’’.

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents is

6 as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.

TITLE I—VOLUNTARY ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP

Sec. 101. Purposes.

Sec. 102. Definitions.

Sec. 103. Implementation and regulations.

Sec. 104. Cleanup plans.

Sec. 105. Cleanup loan program.

Sec. 106. Tax treatment of voluntary cleanup costs.

TITLE II—NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAM

Sec. 201. Purpose.

Sec. 202. Tax incentives for business startups.

TITLE III—NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE,

REMEDIATION, AND RESTORATION TRAINING PROGRAMS

Subtitle A—National Environmental Response Training Program

Sec. 301. Definitions.

Sec. 302. Establishment.

Sec. 303. Grants to environmental training providers.

Sec. 304. Training and certification in environmental response and environmental emergency response.

Sec. 305. Secondary education program.

Subtitle B—National Environmental Remediation and Restoration Training

Program

Sec. 311. Purpose.

Sec. 312. Education and training program.

Sec. 313. Grant program.

TITLE IV—NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT-RELATED EMPLOYMENT

PROGRAM

Sec. 401. Hiring incentives.

Sec. 402. Definitions.
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1 TITLE I—VOLUNTARY

2 ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP

3 SEC. 101. PURPOSES.

4 The purposes of this title are—

5 (1) to significantly increase the pace of environ6 mental cleanup by establishing a loan program to

7 conduct voluntary cleanups; and

8 (2) to benefit public health and welfare, and the

9 environment, by returning contaminated sites to eco10 nomically productive or other beneficial uses.

11 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.

12 For purposes of this title, the following definitions

13 apply:

14 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis15 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ16 mental Protection Agency.

17 (2) INNOCENT LANDOWNER.—The term ‘‘inno18 cent landowner’’ means a person—

19 (A) who either intends to own, as ex20 pressed as an option to buy or other formal

21 agreement, or who owns, an affected site; and

22 (B) who did not, by act or omission, cause

23 or contribute to any contamination or to any re24 lease or threatened release of a hazardous sub25 stance on the affected site.
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1 (3) RESPONSIBLE OWNER.—The term ‘‘respon2 sible owner’’ means a person who owns an affected

3 site on which industrial activities take place.

4 (4) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in5 dividual, a State, or a local government.

6 (5) AFFECTED SITE.—The term ‘‘affected site’’

7 means a facility that has environmental contamina8 tion that—

9 (A) could prevent the timely use, develop10 ment, reuse or redevelopment of the facility;

11 and

12 (B) is limited in scope and can be com13 prehensively characterized and readily analyzed.

14 (6) FACILITY.—The term ‘‘facility’’ has the

15 meaning provided by section 101(8) of the Com16 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,

17 and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 (9)).

18 (7) ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION.—The

19 term ‘‘environmental contamination’’ or ‘‘contamina20 tion’’ means the existence at a facility of one or

21 more contaminants that may pose a health or envi22 ronmental risk.

23 (8) CONTAMINANT.—The term ‘‘contaminant’’

24 includes any hazardous substance and oil, as defined
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1 in section 1001(23) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990

2 (33 U.S.C. 2701 (23)).

3 (9) HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE.—The term ‘‘haz4 ardous substance’’ has the meaning provided by sec5 tion 101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental

6 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980

7 (42 U.S.C. 9601 (14)).

8 (10) ENVIRONMENT.—The term ‘‘environment’’

9 has the meaning provided by section 1001(8) of the

10 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensa11 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601(8)).

12 SEC. 103. IMPLEMENTATION AND REGULATIONS.

13 The Environmental Protection Agency shall imple14 ment this title and may promulgate any regulations need15 ed to do so. Any regulations needed to promulgate this

16 title shall be proposed by the Environmental Protection

17 Agency no later than 6 months after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act and shall be promulgated no later than

19 18 months after such date of enactment.

20 SEC. 104. CLEANUP PLANS.

21 (a) SUBMISSION.—An innocent landowner or a re22 sponsible owner may submit a cleanup plan with respect

23 to an affected site to the Administrator for review and

24 approval.
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1 (b) CONTENTS.—A cleanup plan shall include the fol2 lowing with respect to the affected site:

3 (1) An environmental assessment of the af4 fected site which describes the nature and extent of

5 a release or potential release of a hazardous sub6 stance and the risk it poses to public health and the

7 environment.

8 (2) Proposals to remediate any contamination

9 or condition causing a release or threatened release

10 which poses a risk to public health or the environ11 ment.

12 (3) Descriptions of measures needed to remove

13 a hazardous substance from the affected site, and a

14 timetable for implementing the measures and for

15 monitoring the measures after they have been com16 pleted.

17 (c) EPA REVIEW.—The Administrator shall review

18 a plan submitted under subsection (a) and, in consultation

19 with the appropriate natural resource trustee, make a de20 cision on whether the plan meets the requirements of this

21 section not later than 90 days after receipt of the plan.

22 (d) PUBLIC REVIEW.—After the Administrator re23 views a proposed cleanup plan, the plan shall be subject

24 to a 30-day public review and comment period. Notice of

25 the proposed plan shall be published in the Federal Reg-
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1 ister and a newspaper of general circulation serving the

2 area in which the identified property is located. The Ad3 ministrator may hold a public hearing on the plan if one

4 is requested.

5 (e) EPA APPROVAL.—Not later than 60 days after

6 the public review and comment period for a proposed

7 cleanup plan, the Administrator shall approve or dis8 approve the plan.

9 SEC. 105. CLEANUP LOAN PROGRAM.

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a

11 separate account in the United States Treasury to be

12 known as the Cleanup Loan Fund, which shall be a special

13 fund administered by the Administrator. Within 60 days

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis15 trator shall finalize guidelines and issue application forms

16 to administer the Cleanup Loan Fund.

17 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Cleanup Loan

18 Fund is to provide funding to persons undertaking the de19 velopment and implementation of an approved cleanup

20 plan.

21 (c) LOAN APPROVAL.—In determining whether to

22 award a loan under this section, the Administrator shall

23 consider—

24 (1) the need of the applicant for financial as25 sistance to clean up the affected site that is the sub-
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1 ject of the loan application, taking into consideration

2 the financial resources available to the applicant;

3 (2) the ability of the applicant to repay the loan

4 in a timely manner;

5 (3) the inability of the applicant to secure a

6 loan from a private lending institution or through

7 other means of financing;

8 (4) the extent to which the cleanup of the af9 fected site would reduce health and environmental

10 risks caused by the release of contaminants at, or

11 from, the affected site; and

12 (5) the demonstrable potential of the affected

13 site for stimulating economic development on com14 pletion of the cleanup.

15 (d) LOAN AGREEMENTS.—Each loan under this sec16 tion shall be made pursuant to a loan agreement. At a

17 minimum, the loan agreement shall include provisions that

18 address the following items:

19 (1) The loan shall bear interest at a rate not

20 to exceed 2 percent and for up to one-half of the

21 costs incurred for the cleanup.

22 (2) The loan shall be in an amount not exceed23 ing $750,000.
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1 (3) The maturity period of the loan (as deter2 mined by the Administrator) shall not exceed 10

3 years.

4 (4) The repayment of the loan during the matu5 rity period shall be in accordance with any schedule

6 for payments that the Administrator may specify in

7 the loan agreement.

8 (5) Each payment referred to in paragraph (4)

9 shall be made to the Secretary of the Treasury for

10 deposit in the General Fund of the Treasury.

11 (6) If the sale or redevelopment of the affected

12 site results in a net profit to the applicant (taking

13 into consideration any amount of reimbursement

14 that may be required under this paragraph) in an

15 amount greater than or equal to 10 percent, in addi16 tion to paying interest on the loan (as specified in

17 paragraph (1)), the applicant shall make a payment

18 to reimburse the Federal Government for the full

19 and actual costs incurred by the Federal Govern20 ment of making the loan to the applicant, including

21 any administrative costs.

22 (7) The applicant shall comply with all applica23 ble Federal and State laws (including regulations)

24 applicable to the cleanup and shall proceed in ac-
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1 cordance with any voluntary cleanup program in ef2 fect in the State.

3 (8) The applicant shall guarantee repayment of

4 the loan.

5 (9) The applicant shall use the loan solely for

6 purposes of cleaning up the environmental contami7 nation at the affected site, and shall return any ex8 cess funds to the Administrator immediately on a

9 determination by the Administrator that the cleanup

10 has been completed.

11 (10) The loan shall not be transferable, unless

12 the Administrator agrees to the transfer in writing.

13 (11) The loan agreement may include such

14 other terms and conditions that the Administrator

15 determines necessary to protect the financial inter16 ests of the United States.

17 (e) FEDERAL LIEN.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A lien in favor of the United

19 States shall arise on the contaminated property sub20 ject to a loan under this section. The lien shall cover

21 all real property included in the legal description of

22 the property at the time the loan agreement pro23 vided for in this section is signed, and all rights to

24 the property, and shall continue until the terms and

25 conditions of the loan agreement have been fully sat-
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1 isfied. The lien shall arise at the time the United

2 States grants a loan under this section, and shall

3 not be subject to the rights of any purchaser, holder

4 of a security interest, or judgment lien creditor

5 whose interest is or has been perfected under appli6 cable State law, except that any interest held by the

7 United States as security for a loan under this sec8 tion shall be subordinate to any lien on the property

9 for taxes due on the property to a State or political

10 subdivision of a State.

11 (2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this paragraph,

12 the terms ‘‘security interest’’ and ‘‘purchaser’’ shall

13 have the meaning provided the terms in paragraphs

14 (1) and (6), respectively, under section 6323(h) of

15 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

16 (f) ENFORCEMENT.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—If any person fails to comply

18 with any condition of a loan agreement entered into

19 pursuant to this section, the Administrator may re20 quest the Attorney General of the United States to

21 commence a civil action in an appropriate district

22 court of the United States to enforce the loan agree23 ment.

24 (2) JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURT.—The

25 district court shall have jurisdiction to enforce the
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1 loan agreement and grant such relief as the public

2 interest and the equities of the case may require.

3 (g) FUNDS.—In addition to any funds appropriated

4 by Congress, at least $10,000,000 shall be transferred on

5 July 1 of each year from the Hazardous Substance

6 Superfund to the Cleanup Loan Fund. Monies received by

7 the Administrator as repayment of outstanding loans shall

8 be deposited in the Cleanup Loan Fund. Any interest

9 earned by monies in the Cleanup Loan Fund shall remain

10 in the Fund. The first transfer of funds from the Hazard11 ous Substance Superfund required by this paragraph shall

12 occur within 60 days after the date of the enactment of

13 this Act.

14 (h) ANNUAL REPORT.—On October 1 of each year,

15 the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on

16 the loans, expenditures, and commitments made from the

17 Cleanup Loan Fund.

18 SEC. 106. TAX TREATMENT OF VOLUNTARY CLEANUP

19 COSTS.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 162 of the Internal Reve21 nue Code of 1986 (relating to trade or business expenses)

22 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub23 section:

24 ‘‘(m) VOLUNTARY CLEANUP COSTS.—The deduction

25 allowed by subsection (a) shall include all amounts paid
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1 or incurred in connection with preparing and implement2 ing an approved cleanup plan under title I of the Com3 prehensive Economic and Environmental Recovery Act of

4 1995.’’.

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (m) of section

6 162 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by

7 subsection (a), shall apply with respect to taxable years

8 beginning after the date of enactment of this Act.

9 TITLE II—NATIONAL ENVIRON10 MENTAL BUSINESS DEVELOP11 MENT PROGRAM

12 SEC. 201. PURPOSE.

13 The purpose of this title is to stimulate the creation

14 of environmental jobs and business opportunities by indi15 viduals and small businesses in targeted urban areas

16 through reduction of the social security tax burden.

17 SEC. 202. TAX INCENTIVES FOR BUSINESS STARTUPS.

18 (a) CORPORATIONS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3111 of the Internal

20 Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to employer social

21 security taxes) is amended by adding at the end the

22 following new subsection:

23 ‘‘(d) NEW ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESSES EXEMPT

24 FROM TAX.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No tax shall be imposed by

2 this section on the wages paid during a calendar

3 year to any owner-employee of an employer which is

4 a new environmental business for such calendar

5 year.

6 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

7 apply to wages paid during any calendar year to an

8 owner-employee after the first $100,000 of wages

9 are paid to such employee during such year.

10 ‘‘(3) NEW ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS.—For

11 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘new environ12 mental business’ means, with respect to any cal13 endar year, any corporation—

14 ‘‘(A) which is a small business concern (as

15 defined pursuant to section 3 of the Small

16 Business Act),

17 ‘‘(B) which meets requirements similar to

18 the requirements of section 1397B with respect

19 to a targeted urban area,

20 ‘‘(C) which is a new business for such cal21 endar year, and

22 ‘‘(D) which, during such year—

23 ‘‘(i) trains and certifies environmental

24 response employees and emergency re25 sponders,
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1 ‘‘(ii) employs environmental response

2 employees and emergency responders, or

3 ‘‘(iii) performs environmental assess4 ments, environmental remediation, or envi5 ronmental restoration.

6 ‘‘(4) NEW BUSINESS.—For purposes of this

7 subsection, the term ‘new business’ means, with re8 spect to any calendar year, any corporation if no

9 principal shareholder of such entity was engaged in

10 any trade or business for periods aggregating more

11 than 3 years during the 10-year period preceding

12 such calendar year.

13 ‘‘(5) PRINCIPAL SHAREHOLDER.—For purposes

14 of this subsection, the term ‘principal shareholder’

15 means any person who directly or indirectly owns—

16 ‘‘(A) stock having more than 5 percent of

17 the total voting power of the stock of the cor18 poration, or

19 ‘‘(B) stock having a value equal to more

20 than 5 percent of the total value of the stock

21 of the corporation.

22 ‘‘(6) OWNER-EMPLOYEE.—For purposes of this

23 subsection, the term ‘owner-employee’ means any

24 employee who is a principal shareholder of the em25 ployer.
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1 ‘‘(7) TARGETED URBAN AREA.—For purposes

2 of this subsection, the term ‘targeted urban area’

3 means an urban area that meets the eligibility cri4 teria in section 1392.

5 ‘‘(8) ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION.—For

6 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘environmental

7 restoration’ means to return a site, or some of its

8 components, to as reasonably as close to a natural,

9 predisturbance condition as is justifiable, with con10 sideration given to the implementation and the op11 portunity costs incurred.

12 ‘‘(9) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of

13 this subsection, the terms ‘environmental response

14 employees’ and ‘emergency responders’ have the

15 meanings given those terms by section 301 of the

16 Comprehensive Economic and Environmental Recov17 ery Act of 1995.

18 ‘‘(10) TERMINATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

19 apply to wages paid in any calendar year after

20 2000.’’

21 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

22 by this subsection shall apply to wages paid in cal23 endar years beginning after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act.
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1 (b) COMPARABLE TREATMENT FOR SOLE PROPRI2 ETORSHIPS AND PARTNERSHIPS.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1402 of such Code

4 is amended by adding at the end the following new

5 subsection:

6 ‘‘(k) NEW ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESSES OWNERS

7 EXEMPT FROM TAX.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a principal

9 owner of a new environmental business, the rate of

10 tax imposed by section 1401 shall be 50 percent of

11 the otherwise applicable rate on so much of the net

12 earnings from self-employment for the taxable year

13 which are attributable to such business as do not ex14 ceed the excess of—

15 ‘‘(A) $100,000, reduced by

16 ‘‘(B) the amount of wages—

17 ‘‘(i) which are received by such owner

18 during the calendar year in which such

19 taxable year begins, and

20 ‘‘(ii) on which no tax was imposed by

21 section 3111 by reason of subsection (d)

22 thereof.

23 ‘‘(2) NEW ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS.—For

24 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘new environ25 mental business’ means, with respect to any taxable
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1 year beginning in a calendar year, any sole propri2 etorship or partnership—

3 ‘‘(A) which meets the requirements of sub4 paragraphs (A), (B), and (D) of section

5 3111(d)(3) for such calendar year, and

6 ‘‘(B) which is a new business for such cal7 endar year.

8 ‘‘(3) NEW BUSINESS.—For purposes of this

9 subsection, the term ‘new business’ means, with re10 spect to any calendar year, any sole proprietorship

11 or partnership if no principal owner thereof was en12 gaged in any trade or business for periods aggregat13 ing more than 3 years during the 10-year period

14 preceding such calendar year.

15 ‘‘(4) PRINCIPAL OWNER.—For purposes of this

16 subsection, the term ‘principal owner’ means—

17 ‘‘(i) in the case of a sole proprietorship,

18 the sole proprietor, and

19 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a partnership, any part20 ner who directly or indirectly owns more than

21 5 percent of the capital or profits interests in

22 the partnership.

23 ‘‘(5) TERMINATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

24 apply to any taxable year beginning after December

25 31, 2000.’’
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1 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

2 by this subsection shall apply to taxable years begin3 ning after the date of the enactment of this Act.

4 TITLE III—NATIONAL ENVIRON5 MENTAL RESPONSE, REMEDI6 ATION, AND RESTORATION

7 TRAINING PROGRAMS

8 Subtitle A—National Environ9 mental Response Training Pro10 gram

11 SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS.

12 For purposes of this subtitle, the following definitions

13 apply:

14 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis15 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ16 mental Protection Agency.

17 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

18 the Secretary of Labor.

19 (3) ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE EMPLOYEE.—

20 The term ‘‘environmental response employee’’ means

21 an individual who is employed by an environmental

22 response employer and who in the course of the indi23 vidual’s employment is directly engaged in carrying

24 out environmental response actions.
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1 (4) EMERGENCY RESPONDER.—The term

2 ‘‘emergency responder’’ means a person who works

3 in the field of environmental emergency response.

4 The term includes the following:

5 (A) Full-time career firefighters or emer6 gency response personnel who are members of

7 a local or State agency or an organized depart8 ment with statutory responsibility for response

9 to hazardous materials incidents on demand

10 without regard to location.

11 (B) Part-time, seasonal, or reserve fire12 fighters or emergency response personnel who

13 receive payment, including an annual stipend or

14 payment on a per call or pet call or per hour

15 basis. For purposes of this subparagraph, pay16 ment does not include indirect compensation

17 such as insurance or retirement benefits.

18 (C) Part-time, seasonal, or reserve fire19 fighters or emergency personnel who do not re20 ceive payment other than indirect compensation

21 such as insurance or retirement benefits.

22 (D) Firefighters under contract to a cor23 poration or other business entity, including—

24 (i) full time, paid firefighters orga25 nized as an industrial fire brigade, and
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1 (ii) maintenance engineering person2 nel who are expected to respond to hazard3 ous materials incidents individually or as a

4 team and usually on a temporary basis.

5 (E) Employees of an employer engaged in

6 clean-up operations at uncontrolled waste sites,

7 sites covered by the Solid Waste Disposal Act,

8 and treatment, storage, or disposal facilities

9 who are intended to function as the on-site

10 emergency response personnel in accordance

11 with the employers emergency response.

12 (5) ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING PROVIDER.—

13 The term ‘‘environmental training provider’’ means

14 a person who provides or offers to provide training

15 for environmental response employers, environmental

16 response employees, and any other persons carrying

17 out environmental response actions.

18 (6) ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE.—The term

19 ‘‘environmental response’’ or ‘‘environmental re20 sponse action’’—

21 (A) with respect to a hazardous substance,

22 has the meaning provided the terms ‘‘respond’’

23 and ‘‘response’’ in section 101(25) of the Com24 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensa-
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1 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C.

2 9601(25));

3 (B) with respect to asbestos-containing

4 material, has the meaning provided the term

5 ‘‘response action’’ by section 202(11) of the

6 Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C.

7 2642(11)); and

8 (C) with respect to a lead-based paint haz9 ard, has the meaning provided the term ‘‘abate10 ment’’ by section 401(1) of the Toxic Sub11 stances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2681(1)).

12 (7) ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCY RE13 SPONSE.—The term ‘‘environmental emergency re14 sponse’’ means any action taken by an emergency

15 responder in response to a release of a substance or

16 material that poses an unreasonable risk to safety,

17 health, or property, or to waterways and the envi18 ronment.

19 (8) ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE EMPLOYER.—

20 The term ‘‘environmental response employer’’ means

21 an individual or business entity that—

22 (A) is or may be carrying out environ23 mental response actions directly, under con24 tract, subcontract, or otherwise; and
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1 (B) uses one or more of its employees in

2 connection with such activity.

3 (9) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘quali4 fied individual’’ means a person who is a resident of

5 a targeted urban area and is either in high school

6 or has a high school diploma or its equivalent and

7 is unemployed or underemployed.

8 (10) TARGETED URBAN AREA.—The term ‘‘tar9 geted urban area’’ means an urban area that meets

10 the eligibility criteria in section 1392 of the Internal

11 Revenue Code of 1986.

12 SEC. 302. ESTABLISHMENT.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a

14 National Environmental Response Training Program for

15 the purpose of—

16 (1) training and certifying, in accordance with

17 section 304, targeted urban area residents who are

18 unemployed or underemployed to become environ19 mental response employees and emergency respond20 ers; and

21 (2) providing grants, in accordance with section

22 303, to environmental training providers.

23 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than one year after the

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consulta25 tion with the Administrator of the Environmental Protec-
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1 tion Agency and the Secretary of Health and Human

2 Services (acting through the Director of the National In3 stitute for Occupational Safety and Health), shall promul4 gate final regulations to carry out subsection (a).

5 SEC. 303. GRANTS TO ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING

6 PROVIDERS.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary and the Ad8 ministrator shall provide grants to public agencies and

9 non-profit organizations qualifying as environmental

10 training providers, as determined by the Secretary and the

11 Administrator, for the purpose of training qualified indi12 viduals in the field of environmental response or environ13 mental emergency response.

14 (b) GRANT ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.—An organization

15 is eligible to receive a grant from the Secretary and Ad16 ministrator under subsection (a) if it—

17 (1) demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the Sec18 retaries and Administrator, an ability to recruit and

19 counsel qualified individuals for participation in the

20 program under this section;

21 (2) has entered into an agreement with a joint

22 labor-management training fund established consist23 ent with section 8(f) of the National Labor Relations

24 Act (29 U.S.C. 158(f)) to implement and operate a
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1 training and employment program for qualified indi2 viduals;

3 (3) agrees under the agreement referred to in

4 paragraph (2) to use grant funds to carry out a pro5 gram that will provide qualified individuals with

6 training for employment in the field of environ7 mental response or environmental emergency re8 sponse;

9 (4) agrees that the training provided to any

10 qualified individual may not exceed a period of 18

11 months;

12 (5) demonstrates actual experience in providing

13 training for qualified individuals under an agreement

14 referred to in paragraph (2);

15 (6) agrees to make, and agrees to require its

16 subgrantees to make, a substantial in-kind contribu17 tion (as determined by the Secretary and Adminis18 trator) from non-Federal sources to the program

19 under this section; and

20 (7) gives its assurances, to the satisfaction of

21 the Secretary that full-time, permanent jobs will be

22 available for individuals successfully completing the

23 training program, with a special emphasis on jobs

24 with employers in field of environmental response or
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1 environmental emergency response in the targeted

2 urban area.

3 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds made available to carry

4 out this section may only be used for tuition and local

5 travel expenses of participants, except that the Secretary

6 of Labor, Secretary of Education, and Administrator may

7 provide that not more than a total of 4 percent of all the

8 funds made available under this section may be used for

9 administrative expenses of grantees and subgrantees.

10 (d) LIMITATION ON TUITION CHARGED.—The

11 amount of tuition charged qualified individuals participat12 ing in a training program funded under a grant received

13 under this section may not exceed the amount of tuition

14 charged to others participating in programs substantially

15 similar to that training program.

16 SEC. 304. TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION IN ENVIRON17 MENTAL RESPONSE AND ENVIRONMENTAL

18 EMERGENCY RESPONSE.

19 (a) TRAINING PROGRAM.—

20 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6

21 months after the date of the enactment of this Act,

22 the Administrator and the Secretary shall establish

23 a training program for qualified individuals in order

24 to enable such individuals to acquire employment in

25 field of environmental response or environmental
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1 emergency response and to become certified under

2 subsection (b).

3 (2) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—The program estab4 lished pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include train5 ing related to the fields of environmental response

6 and environmental emergency response, including

7 the training described in paragraph (3). The pro8 gram may include educational activities and training

9 related to construction, containment of oil and haz10 ardous waste, removal of oil and hazardous waste,

11 and disposal of oil and hazardous waste.

12 (3) SPECIFIC TRAINING REQUIREMENTS.—The

13 program established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall

14 include the following requirements:

15 (A) HAZARDOUS WASTE SITE WORKERS.—

16 (i) For general hazardous waste site

17 workers (as defined by the Secretary pur18 suant to section 126(b)(2) of the

19 Superfund Amendments and Reauthoriza20 tion Act of 1986), at least 40 hours of

21 training, including a minimum of 18 hours

22 of hands-on training. The Secretary shall,

23 in addition, consider the degree and range

24 of risks encountered by different trades or

25 categories of environmental response em-
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1 ployees and may establish additional train2 ing requirements for such trades or cat3 egories, not to exceed 80 hours of training,

4 including up to 30 hours of hands-on

5 training.

6 (ii) For hazardous waste site workers

7 regularly on-site, at least 36 hours of

8 training, including 8 hours that are super9 vised field training at the specific site.

10 (iii) For hazardous waste site super11 visors, an additional 8 hours of supervisor12 specific training after successful comple13 tion of the training described in clause (i)

14 or (ii).

15 (iv) For all hazardous waste site

16 workers and supervisors, annual refresher

17 training of at least 8 hours, in addition to

18 the training described in clause (i), (ii), or

19 (iii), as applicable.

20 (B) TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL

21 FACILITY WORKERS.—

22 (i) For treatment, storage, and dis23 posal facility site workers (as defined by

24 the Secretary pursuant to subtitle C of the

25 Solid Waste Disposal Act), at least 40
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1 hours of training, including a minimum of

2 8 hours of hands-on training.

3 (ii) For supervisors of such workers,

4 an additional 8 hours of supervisor-specific

5 training after successful completion of the

6 training described in clause (i).

7 (iii) For all treatment, storage, and

8 disposal facility site workers and super9 visors, annual refresher training of at least

10 8 hours, in addition to the training de11 scribed in clause (i) or (ii), as applicable.

12 (C) ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCY RE13 SPONDERS.—For environmental emergency re14 sponders, the following requirements:

15 (i) Operations level: 40 hours, includ16 ing awareness level.

17 (ii) Technician level: 80 hours addi18 tional beyond operations level.

19 (iii) Specialists level: 100 hours addi20 tional beyond technician level.

21 (iv) Incident Commander: 16 hours

22 additional beyond technician level.

23 (v) Annual refresher: 8 hours in all

24 categories.
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1 (vi) Site-specific: 24 hours site-specific

2 training, including site survey for each

3 hazardous waste site for which emergency

4 response is planned and specific training

5 required by the unique nature of the po6 tential exposures.

7 (b) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall promul8 gate regulations for the certification of environmental re9 sponse employees and emergency responders. Such regula10 tions shall be implemented by the Secretary, or by the ap11 propriate State agency by agreement, as long as the cer12 tification requirements are no less stringent than those

13 specified by the Secretary. The provisions for certification

14 shall be based on the specific training requirements set

15 forth in subsection (a)(3).

16 (c) TIME PERIOD AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—

17 Certifications shall be for a period of two years. Biannual

18 refresher training shall be required for renewal of certifi19 cations. The Secretary shall specify the minimum number

20 of hours required for such refresher training.

21 SEC. 305. SECONDARY EDUCATION PROGRAM.

22 (a) CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary of

23 Labor and the Secretary of Education shall develop coop24 eratively with local educational agencies an academic/

25 work-site experience curriculum for 11th and 12th grade
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1 students that will enable those who successfully complete

2 the curriculum to become environmental response employ3 ees or emergency responders.

4 (b) GRANTS.—The Secretary of Labor and the Sec5 retary of Education shall provide grants to local commu6 nities for the purpose of implementing academic/work-site

7 experience curriculum developed pursuant to subsection

8 (a).

9 (c) GRANT ELIGIBILITY.—A local community is eligi10 ble to apply for a grant under this section if—

11 (1) the local community is located within a tar12 geted urban area;

13 (2) hazardous waste facilities are located within

14 the community;

15 (3) a vocational and technology high school is

16 located within the community; and

17 (4) the community has entered into a partner18 ship with local businesses that employ emergency re19 sponders or environmental response employees to

20 provide work-site experience opportunities to stu21 dents.

22 (d) APPROVAL OF APPLICATION.—The Secretaries of

23 Education and Labor may approve an application submit24 ted by a local community under this section only if the

25 community demonstrates in such application that the ac-
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1 tivities proposed to be undertaken by the community will

2 lead to a reduction in the unemployment rate for the tar3 geted urban area in which the community is located.

4 (e) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY RESPONSIBIL5 ITIES.—Each local educational agency that receives a

6 grant under this section shall implement an environmental

7 response and environmental emergency response aca8 demic/work site experience program that—

9 (1) integrates occupational, technical, and aca10 demic instruction;

11 (2) integrates work-site training and classroom

12 instruction throughout the 2 years (grades 11 and

13 12) of the academic/work-site program;

14 (3) ensures that employers will devote the staff,

15 facilities, and equipment necessary to provide youth

16 apprentices with adequate work-site supervision,

17 quality instruction, and hands-on training on an on18 going basis; and

19 (4) provides instruction sufficient to enable stu20 dents to satisfy State requirements for a high school

21 diploma together with an environmental response or

22 environmental emergency response skills certificate,

23 upon completion of the 12th grade.
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1 Subtitle B—National Environ2 mental Remediation and Res3 toration Training Program

4 SEC. 311. PURPOSE.

5 To require the Administrator to establish a program

6 to provide career training to eligible individuals in order

7 to enable them to acquire proficiency in environmental as8 sessment, remediation, and restoration, and for other pur9 poses.

10 SEC. 312. EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—

12 (1) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For the purpose of

13 this subtitle, an eligible individual is a person—

14 (A) who has either a high school diploma

15 or its equivalence,

16 (B) who is enrolled in or accepted into a

17 qualified institution of higher education, and

18 (C) who resides in a targeted area.

19 (2) ESTABLISHMENT OF A PROGRAM.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6

21 months after the date of the enactment of this

22 Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the

23 Secretaries of Defense and Energy, shall estab24 lish an education and training program in

25 qualified institutions of higher education for
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1 qualified individuals in order to enable such in2 dividuals to acquire career training in environ3 mental engineering, environmental sciences, or

4 environmental project management as it relates

5 to hazardous waste response, cleanup, and res6 toration.

7 (B) DEVELOPMENT OF ACADEMIC/ON-SITE

8 SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAM.—In carrying out

9 the program, the Administrator, in consultation

10 with the Secretaries of Defense and Energy,

11 shall develop and implement an academic pro12 gram for qualified individuals at institutions of

13 higher education at both undergraduate and

14 graduate levels, and which may lead to the

15 awarding of an academic degree or a certifi16 cation that is supplemental to an academic de17 gree.

18 (3) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The program estab20 lished pursuant to paragraph (1) may include

21 educational activities and training related to—

22 (i) site remediation;

23 (ii) site characterization;

24 (iii) hydrology; and
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1 (iv) training for positions related to

2 environmental engineering, environmental

3 sciences, or environmental project manage4 ment (including training for management

5 positions).

6 (B) EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—The pro7 gram established pursuant to paragraph (1)

8 shall include educational activities designed for

9 personnel participating in a program to achieve

10 specialization in the following fields:

11 (i) Earth sciences.

12 (ii) Chemistry.

13 (iii) Chemical engineering.

14 (iv) Environmental engineering.

15 (v) Statistics.

16 (vi) Toxicology.

17 (vii) Biology.

18 (viii) Industrial hygiene.

19 (ix) Health physics.

20 (x) Environmental project manage21 ment.

22 (xi) Any other field that the Adminis23 trator determines to be appropriate.
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1 SEC. 313. GRANT PROGRAM.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries of Defense and

3 Energy and the Administrator shall provide grants to a

4 qualified institutions of higher education under this sec5 tion only if such institutions submit to the Administrator

6 an application which contains such information as the

7 former may reasonably require.

8 (b) ASSURANCES.—Such an application shall include

9 assurances that the institution of higher education will use

10 Federal funds received from a grant under this section to

11 supplement and not supplant non-Federal funds that

12 would otherwise be available for activities funded under

13 this section.

14 (c) FUNDING.—

15 (1) ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY.—

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the limita17 tion in subparagraph (B), 50 percent of the

18 cost of carrying out this section shall be funded

19 from amounts made available for fiscal year

20 1996 to the Environmental Protection Agency

21 pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental

22 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of

23 1980 (42 U.S.C. 960 et seq.).

24 (B) LIMITATION.—Not more than 1 per25 cent of the amounts made available for fiscal

26 year 1996 to the Environmental Protection
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1 Agency pursuant to the Comprehensive Envi2 ronmental Response, Compensation, and Liabil3 ity Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) may

4 be used to carry out this section.

5 (C) SPECIAL RULE.—Amounts provided

6 under this paragraph shall be used to supple7 ment and not supplant other funds provided to

8 such centers by the Environmental Protection

9 Agency.

10 (2) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.—

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the limita12 tion in subparagraph (B), 25 percent of the

13 cost of carrying out this section shall be funded

14 from amounts appropriated for fiscal year 1996

15 to the Department of Defense Environmental

16 Restoration Account established in section 2703

17 of title 10, United States Code.

18 (B) LIMITATION.—Not more than 1 per19 cent of the amounts appropriated for fiscal year

20 1996 to the Defense Environmental Restoration

21 Account established in section 2703 of title 10,

22 United States Code, may be used to carry out

23 this section.

24 (C) TRANSFER.—The Secretary of Defense

25 shall transfer an amount determined in accord-
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1 ance with subparagraphs (A) and (B) to the

2 Environmental Protection Agency, pursuant to

3 the authority granted the Secretary under sec4 tion 2703 of title 10, United States Code.

5 (3) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the limita7 tion described in subparagraph (B), 25 percent

8 of the cost of carrying out this section shall be

9 funded from amounts appropriated for fiscal

10 year 1996 to the Department of Energy for the

11 purpose of environmental cleanup.

12 (B) LIMITATION.—The limitation de13 scribed in this subparagraph is that not more

14 than 1 percent of the amounts made available

15 for fiscal year 1996 to the Department of En16 ergy may be used to carry out this section.

17 (C) SPECIAL RULE.—Amounts provided

18 under this paragraph to The Environmental

19 Protection Agency shall be used to supplement

20 and not supplant other funds provided to such

21 centers by the Department of Energy.

22 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—A qualified institution of

24 higher education shall use amounts received from a

25 grant under this section to establish a consortium
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1 consisting of the institution and the entities de2 scribed in paragraph (2) for the purpose of estab3 lishing a program to provide education and training

4 in environmental restoration to the qualified individ5 uals.

6 (2) ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—The entities de7 scribed in this paragraph are 1 or more of each of

8 the following:

9 (A) Representatives of appropriate State

10 and local agencies.

11 (B) Community-based organizations.

12 (C) Business.

13 (D) Labor organizations.

14 (E) Other appropriate educational institu15 tions.

16 (F) Local Federal facilities involved in en17 vironmental assessment and restoration.

18 (e) CONDUCT OF PROGRAM.—

19 (1) PROVISION OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

20 IN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT, REMEDIATION,

21 AND RESTORATION.—

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The consortium shall

23 establish and provide a work-based learning

24 system consisting of education and training in

25 environmental assessment, remediation, and
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1 restoration, which may include basic edu2 cational courses; on-site basic skills training;

3 and mentor assistance to qualified individuals,

4 which may lead to the awarding of a certificate

5 of completion or advance degree at the institu6 tion of higher education.

7 (B) USE OF CLOSED MILITARY INSTALLA8 TION OR OTHER FEDERAL FACILITY.—To the

9 extent practicable, the consortium shall utilize a

10 military installation closed or selected to be

11 closed under a base closure law or other con12 taminated Federal facility in providing on-site

13 basic skills training to qualified individuals.

14 (2) OUTREACH AND RECRUITMENT.—The con15 sortium shall undertake outreach and recruitment

16 efforts to encourage participation by eligible individ17 uals in the program described under subsection

18 (a)(1) of section 112.

19 (3) INSTRUCTORS.—The consortium shall, to

20 the extent practicable, select instructors for the pro21 gram established under subsection (d)(1) from insti22 tutions of higher education, appropriate community

23 programs, and industry and labor.

24 (4) JOB PLACEMENT SERVICES.—The consor25 tium shall provide job placement services to each eli-
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1 gible individual who receives a certificate of comple2 tion or advance degree under paragraph (1)(A).

3 (5) COORDINATION.—To the extent practicable,

4 the consortium shall consult with appropriate Fed5 eral, State, and local agencies carrying out environ6 mental assessment, remediation, and restoration pro7 grams for the purpose of achieving coordination

8 among such programs and the program established

9 by the consortium under subsection (d)(1).

10 TITLE IV—NATIONAL ENVIRON11 MENT-RELATED EMPLOY12 MENT PROGRAM

13 SEC. 401. HIRING INCENTIVES.

14 Federal agencies authorized to award contracts to

15 carry out environmental response or environmental emer16 gency response shall give preference to firms that—

17 (1) meet the requirements of the contract;

18 (2) are located in a targeted urban area; and

19 (3) have a payroll in which at least 25 percent

20 of their certified environmental response employees

21 and emerging responders reside in a targeted urban

22 area, or, in cases where availability of certified envi23 ronmental response employees and emerging re24 sponders does not allow firms to comply, actively

25 participate in a youth apprenticeship program.
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1 SEC. 402. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this title, the terms ‘‘environmental

3 response’’, ‘‘environmental emergency response’’, ‘‘tar4 geted urban area’’, ‘‘environmental response employee’’,

5 and ‘‘emergency responder’’ have the meanings provided

6 those terms by section 301.

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