I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3214

To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and

Liability Act of 1980 to establish a brownfield cleanup loan program.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 29, 1996

Mr. FRANKS of Connecticut introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on

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 amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to establish a

brownfield cleanup loan program.

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

3 SECTION 1. CLEANUP OF BROWNFIELDS.

4 The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com5 pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 is amended by adding

6 the following new title at the end thereof:

7 ‘‘TITLE VI—CLEANUP OF BROWNFIELDS
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1 ‘‘SEC. 601. DEFINITION OF BROWNFIELD SITE.

2 ‘‘As used in this title, the term ‘brownfield site’

3 means a parcel of land that contains, or contained aban4 doned or under-used commercial or industrial facilities,

5 the expansion or redevelopment of which is complicated

6 by the presence or potential presence of hazardous sub7 stances.

8 ‘‘SEC. 602. BROWNFIELD CLEANUP ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Adminis10 trator shall establish a program to provide loans for the

11 environmental assessment and remediation of eligible

12 brownfield sites.

13 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE BROWNFIELD SITES.—Any

14 brownfield site shall be eligible for assistance under this

15 title unless the site is one of the following:

16 ‘‘(1) Any facility that is the subject of ongoing

17 removal action under title I of this Act.

18 ‘‘(2) Any facility included, or proposed for in19 clusion, in the National Priorities List maintained

20 by the Administrator under title I of this Act.

21 ‘‘(3) Any facility with respect to which an ad22 ministrative order on consent or judicial consent de23 cree requiring cleanup has been entered into by the

24 United States under the Solid Waste Disposal Act

25 (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), the Federal Water Pollu26 tion Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), the Toxic
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1 Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) or

2 title XIV of the Public Health Service Act, com3 monly known as the Safe Drinking Water Act (42

4 U.S.C. 300f and following).

5 ‘‘(4) Any facility owned or operated by a de6 partment, agency, or instrumentality of the United

7 States.

8 ‘‘(c) ASSISTANCE FOR SITE CHARACTERIZATION AND

9 ASSESSMENT.—Upon the approval of an application made

10 by any person, and with the consent of the State and local

11 government having jurisdiction over one or more eligible

12 brownfield sites, the Administrator may make loans under

13 this subsection to the applicant to be used for the site

14 characterization and assessment of such site or sites. Site

15 characterizations and assessments shall be performed in

16 accordance with generally accepted good commercial and

17 customary standards and practices under section

18 101(39)(B) of this Act.

19 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDI20 ATION.—Upon the approval of an application made by any

21 person, and with the consent of the State and local govern22 ment having jurisdiction over one or more eligible

23 brownfield sites, the Administrator may make loans under

24 this subsection to such applicant to be used for response

25 action (excluding site characterization and assessment) at
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1 one or more eligible brownfield sites. Such response action

2 shall be for purposes of making such site or sites available

3 for manufacturing, business, or other commercial or resi4 dential purposes.

5 ‘‘(e) SUNSET.—No amount shall be available from

6 the Hazardous Substance Superfund for purposes of this

7 title.

8 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION.—No portion of any assistance

9 provided under this section to an eligible applicant may

10 be used for payment of penalties or fines.

11 ‘‘(g) AUDITS.—The Inspector General of the Envi12 ronmental Protection Agency shall audit all loans made

13 under this section to insure that all funds are used for

14 the purposes set forth in this section.

15 ‘‘(h) AGREEMENTS.—Each loan made under this sec16 tion shall be subject to an agreement which requires the

17 following:

18 ‘‘(1) The agreement shall require the applicant

19 to comply with all applicable Federal and State laws

20 and regulations.

21 ‘‘(2) The agreement shall require that the ap22 plicant shall use the loan exclusively for purposes

23 specified in subsection (c) or (d), as the case may

24 be.
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1 ‘‘(3) The agreement shall provide for repayment

2 of the loan within a specified period, not to exceed

3 10 years.

4 ‘‘(4) The agreement shall contain such other

5 terms and conditions that the Administrator deter6 mines necessary to carry out the purposes of this

7 title.

8 ‘‘(i) LEVERAGING.—The recipient of any assistance

9 under this section may use the assistance for part of a

10 project at an eligible brownfield site or sites which receives

11 funding from other sources, except that such assistance

12 may only be used for the purposes described in subsection

13 (c) or (d), as the case may be.

14 ‘‘SEC. 603. APPLICATIONS FOR ASSISTANCE.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person may submit an ap16 plication to the Administrator for a loan under this title

17 for one or more eligible brownfield sites. An application

18 may be submitted to the Administrator through any Re19 gional Office of the Environmental Protection Agency.

20 The application shall be in such form as the Administrator

21 determines appropriate.

22 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—An application

23 for assistance under this title shall, at a minimum, include

24 each of the following:
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1 ‘‘(1) An identification of each eligible

2 brownfield site for which assistance is sought and a

3 description of the redevelopment plan for the area or

4 areas in which each such site is located. Such de5 scription shall include a description of the nature

6 and extent of any known or suspected environmental

7 contamination within the area.

8 ‘‘(2) An analysis that demonstrates the poten9 tial of the loan to stimulate economic development

10 on completion of any necessary response action.

11 Such analysis shall include a projection of the num12 ber of jobs expected to be created at the site after

13 remediation and redevelopment and, to the extent

14 feasible, a description of the type and skill level of

15 such jobs and a projection of the increases in reve16 nues accruing to the local, State and Federal gov17 ernments from such jobs.

18 ‘‘(c) APPROVAL.—After the first 12 months after the

19 enactment of this title, the Administrator shall make an20 nual evaluations of all applications received during the

21 prior calendar year and make loans under this title to

22 those States and municipalities submitting applications

23 during such prior year which the Administrator deter24 mines have the highest rankings under the ranking cri25 teria established by the Administrator. For the first 12
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1 months after the enactment of this title, at the end of each

2 6-month period after the enactment of this title, the Ad3 ministrator shall make loans under this title to those ap4 plicants submitting applications before the end of such 6-

5 month period which the Administrator determines have

6 the highest rankings under the ranking criteria established

7 by the Administrator.

8 ‘‘(d) RANKING CRITERIA.—In determining whether

9 to provide assistance under this title to any applicant, the

10 Administrator shall establish a ranking system for applica11 tions. The ranking system shall include the following cri12 teria:

13 ‘‘(1) The extent to which the assistance will

14 stimulate the availability of other funds for response

15 action and subsequent redevelopment of the area in

16 which the eligible brownfield sites are located.

17 ‘‘(2) The potential of the development plan for

18 the area in which the eligible brownfield sites are lo19 cated to stimulate economic development of the area

20 on completion of the response action such as the fol21 lowing:

22 ‘‘(A) The relative increase in the estimated

23 fair market value of the area as a result of the

24 response action.
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1 ‘‘(B) The potential of the assistance to cre2 ate new, or expand existing, business and em3 ployment opportunities (particularly full-time

4 employment opportunities) upon completion of

5 the response action.

6 ‘‘(C) The estimated additional tax revenues

7 expected to be generated by economic redevelop8 ment in the area in which the brownfield site is

9 located.

10 ‘‘(3) The estimated extent to which the assist11 ance would facilitate the identification of, or reduc12 tion of, health and environmental risks.

13 ‘‘(4) The extent to which the site characteriza14 tion and assessment or the remediation and subse15 quent development of the eligible brownfield site or

16 sites involves the active participation and support of

17 the local community.

18 ‘‘(5) Such other factors as the Administrator

19 considers relevant to carry out the purposes of this

20 title.’’.

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