I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1621

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to

establish a program under which States may be certified to carry out

voluntary environmental cleanup programs for low- and medium-priority

sites.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 11, 1995

Mr. REGULA (for himself, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr.

DOYLE, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. FOGLIETTA, Mr. KLINK, Ms.

PELOSI, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, and Mr. MURTHA) 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 require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a program under which States

may be certified to carry out voluntary environmental

cleanup programs for low- and medium-priority 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 ‘‘Brownfield Cleanup

5 and Redevelopment Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

3 (1) Hundreds of thousands of obsolete indus4 trial sites nationwide are polluted with medium to

5 low amounts of environmental contamination.

6 (2) Reusing these sites requires cleanup of the

7 contamination, adding costs and uncertainties to the

8 redevelopment process.

9 (3) Left unused, these contaminated sites mean

10 loss of tax revenues and job opportunities for the

11 community and pose potential risks to nearby resi12 dents or people who venture onto the site.

13 (4) State efforts to encourage voluntary cleanup

14 and redevelopment of such sites are hindered by

15 Federal requirements for environmental permits to

16 conduct the cleanups and by the lack of Federal cer17 tification of such State efforts.

18 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to encour19 age cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated industrial

20 facilities (known as ‘‘brownfields’’) as economically viable

21 alternatives to previously undeveloped ‘‘greenfield’’ sites.

22 SEC. 3. CERTIFICATION OF STATE VOLUNTARY CLEANUP

23 PROGRAMS.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the

25 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of

26 the Environmental Protection Agency (hereinafter in this
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1 Act referred to as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall establish cer2 tification criteria for State voluntary cleanup programs at

3 eligible facilities. If a State meets the criteria for certifi4 cation, the Administrator shall certify the State to carry

5 out the cleanup program in such State at eligible facilities

6 in lieu of any Federal program that addresses the cleanup

7 of such facilities under the Comprehensive Environmental

8 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 or the

9 Solid Waste Disposal Act.

10 (b) BIENNIAL AUDITS AND REVOCATION OF STATE

11 CERTIFICATION.—The Administrator shall ensure that

12 State programs continue to meet the terms of the certifi13 cation issued pursuant to subsection (a) by conducting bi14 ennial audits of State voluntary cleanup programs. If the

15 Administrator finds that the State is not administering

16 the program in accordance with the terms of the certifi17 cation, the Administrator shall notify the State of defi18 ciencies and of the Administrator’s intention to withdraw

19 the State’s certification if the deficiencies are not resolved

20 within 6 months. Withdrawal of State certification shall

21 not affect any cleanup completed and approved by the

22 State as of the date of such withdrawal.

23 (c) SPECIFIC CRITERIA.—The Administrator shall re24 quire that, in order for a State voluntary cleanup program
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1 to be certified under subsection (a), the program shall, at

2 a minimum, contain each of the following provisions:

3 (1) The program shall provide that only eligible

4 facilities, as described in subsection (d), may partici5 pate in the program.

6 (2) The program shall provide adequate oppor7 tunities for public participation in the development

8 and implementation of cleanup plans for eligible fa9 cilities. Public participation requirements shall in10 clude but not be limited to providing opportunity for

11 affected parties to review and comment on cleanup

12 documents and plans, and providing opportunity for

13 public input to the remedy selection process. Af14 fected parties shall include but not be limited to

15 local work force representatives, adjacent community

16 residents, and local environmental and other public

17 interest organizations.

18 (3) The program shall provide technical assist19 ance throughout each voluntary cleanup.

20 (4) The program shall provide adequate over21 sight and enforcement authority to ensure that the

22 voluntary cleanups comply with Federal and State

23 laws (except permit requirements as provided in sub24 section (e)).
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1 (5) Provide for a certification from the State to

2 the owner or prospective purchaser of an eligible fa3 cility that the cleanup is complete.

4 (d) ELIGIBLE FACILITIES.—For purposes of this Act,

5 the term ‘‘eligible facility’’ means a facility or property

6 in a State that is determined by the State to have environ7 mental contamination that—

8 (1) could prevent the timely use, development,

9 or reuse of the facility or property; and

10 (2) is limited in scope and can be comprehen11 sively and readily evaluated.

12 Such term shall not include any of the following:

13 (A) A facility that is eligible for abatement ac14 tion under section 106 of the Comprehensive Envi15 ronmental Response, Compensation, and Liability

16 Act of 1980.

17 (B) A facility that, as of the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, is subject to Federal enforcement

19 action under the Comprehensive Environmental Re20 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42

21 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.).

22 (C) A facility included, or proposed for inclu23 sion, on the National Priorities List or on the com24 prehensive environmental response, compensation,

25 and liability inventory system (‘‘CERCLIS’’) that
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1 has been evaluated as high priority under the hazard

2 ranking system.

3 (D) A facility required to have a permit under

4 section 3005 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act that

5 does not have a permit under that section and does

6 not qualify for authorization to operate in interim

7 status under subsection (e) of that section.

8 (E) A land disposal unit with respect to which

9 a closure notification under subtitle C of the Solid

10 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) is sub11 mitted and closure requirements are specified in a

12 closure plan or permit.

13 (F) A facility subject to corrective action under

14 section 3004(u) or 3008(h) of the Solid Waste Dis15 posal Act (42 U.S.C. 5924(u) or 6928(h)) that is

16 evaluated as high priority under the Environmental

17 Protection Agency’s National Corrective Action Pri18 ority System as set forth in regulations under sub19 title C of the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

20 (G) A facility at which assistance for response

21 activities may be obtained pursuant to subtitle I of

22 the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6991 et

23 seq.) from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank

24 Trust Fund established under section 9508 of the

25 Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
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1 (H) A facility owned or operated by a depart2 ment, agency, or instrumentality of the United

3 States.

4 (e) RELATIONSHIP TO PERMIT REQUIREMENTS.—No

5 Federal, State, or local permit shall be required for any

6 cleanup conducted under a State voluntary cleanup pro7 gram certified under this section, if the cleanup is carried

8 out in compliance with the certified program.

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