I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3043

To provide for the voluntary environmental cleanup of existing industrial

sites; to further define the cleanup liability of new industries, financial

institutions and tenants; to provide for the voluntary cleanup of industrial

sites by responsible owners; to define cleanup liabilities on abandoned

industrial sites; to establish the Cleanup Loan Fund and the Industrial

Land Recycling Fund to aid industrial site cleanups; and to provide

for the registration of environmental consulting professionals.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 9, 1993

Mr. RIDGE introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Energy and Commerce and Public Works and Transportation

A BILL

To provide for the voluntary environmental cleanup of existing industrial sites; to further define the cleanup liability

of new industries, financial institutions and tenants; to

provide for the voluntary cleanup of industrial sites by

responsible owners; to define cleanup liabilities on abandoned industrial sites; to establish the Cleanup Loan

Fund and the Industrial Land Recycling Fund to aid

industrial site cleanups; and to provide for the registration of environmental consulting professionals.

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 ‘‘Industrial and Com3 mercial Land Recycling Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

5 The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.

Sec. 2. Table of contents.

TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 101. Findings.

Sec. 102. Definitions.

Sec. 103. Implementation and regulations.

Sec. 104. Liability of persons conducting environmental assessments.

Sec. 105. Applicability.

TITLE II—INNOCENT LANDOWNER AND RESPONSIBLE OWNER

CLEANUPS

Sec. 201. Applicability.

Sec. 202. Cleanup plans.

Sec. 203. Protection from liability.

Sec. 204. Cleanup guarantee.

Sec. 205. Voluntary Cleanup Loan Program.

Sec. 206. Penalty.

TITLE III—ABANDONED INDUSTRIAL LAND REDEVELOPMENT

Sec. 301. Applicability.

Sec. 302. Environmental assessment.

Sec. 303. Cleanup liability.

Sec. 304. Owner responsibilities.

Sec. 305. Transferability.

Sec. 306. Third parties.

Sec. 307. Funding.

TITLE IV—NO ACTION DETERMINATIONS

Sec. 401. No action determinations.

Sec. 402. Review deadline.

Sec. 403. Applicability.

Sec. 404. Exclusions and conditions.

Sec. 405. Transferability.

Sec. 406. Third parties.

TITLE V—REGISTRATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROFESSIONALS

Sec. 501. Registration.

Sec. 502. Qualifications.

Sec. 503. Withholding registration.

Sec. 504. Registration fee.
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TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 601. Industrial Land Recycling Fund.

Sec. 602. Enforcement.

Sec. 603. Delegation to States.

Sec. 604. Authority reserved.

Sec. 605. Construction.

Sec. 606. Effective date.

1 TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS

2 SEC. 101. FINDINGS.

3 The Congress finds the following:

4 (1) The reuse and redevelopment of existing in5 dustrial and commercial land should be encouraged

6 as a sound land use management policy to prevent

7 the needless development of prime farmland, open

8 space, and natural and recreation areas, and to pre9 vent the expansion of urban sprawl.

10 (2) Hundreds of unused industrial sites should

11 be returned to being useful, tax producing properties

12 to protect existing employment opportunities and to

13 provide new opportunities.

14 (3) Persons interested in redeveloping existing

15 industrial sites must have a method of determining

16 with certainty what their legal liabilities and cleanup

17 responsibilities will be when they plan the reuse of

18 existing sites. Financial institutions which invest in

19 the reuse of existing sites and the subsequent owners

20 or lease holders must also be given this same degree

21 of certainty.
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1 (4) Incentives should be put in place to encour2 age companies to voluntarily develop and implement

3 cleanup plans without the need for adversarial en4 forcement actions by the Environmental Protection

5 Agency, which frequently only serve to delay clean6 ups and increase their cost.

7 (5) Cleanup responsibilities should be based on

8 the actual risk that contamination on the site may

9 pose to public health and the environment taking

10 into account its future use, and on the degree to

11 which contamination can spread off-site and expose

12 the public or the environment to risk, not on cleanup

13 policies based solely on the need to return every site

14 in the Nation to a pristine condition.

15 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.

16 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions

17 apply:

18 (1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad19 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

20 (2) The term ‘‘CERCLA’’ means the Com21 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,

22 and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.).

23 (3) The term ‘‘EPA’’ means the Environmental

24 Protection Agency.
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1 (4) The term ‘‘Hazardous Substance

2 Superfund’’ means the fund established by section

3 9507 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

4 (5) The term ‘‘hazardous substance’’ has the

5 meaning provided that term by section 101(14) of

6 CERCLA.

7 (6) The term ‘‘industrial activity’’ means com8 mercial, manufacturing, or any other activity done to

9 further either the development, manufacturing, or

10 distribution of goods and services, including adminis11 tration, research and development, warehousing,

12 shipping, transport, remanufacturing, and repair

13 and maintenance of commercial machinery and

14 equipment.

15 (7) The term ‘‘person’’ means an individual,

16 firm, corporation, association, partnership, consor17 tium, joint venture, commercial entity, authority,

18 nonprofit corporation, interstate body or other legal

19 entity which is recognized by law as the subject of

20 rights and duties. The term includes the United

21 States Government, a State, and a political subdivi22 sion of a State.

23 (8) The term ‘‘remediate’’ means cleanup, miti24 gate, correct, abate, minimize, eliminate, prevent,

25 study, or assess a release of a regulated substance
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1 into the environment in order to protect the present

2 or future public health, safety, welfare, or the envi3 ronment.

4 SEC. 103. IMPLEMENTATION AND REGULATIONS.

5 The Environmental Protection Agency shall imple6 ment this Act and may promulgate any regulations needed

7 to do so. Any regulations needed to implement this Act

8 shall be proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency

9 no later than 6 months after the date of the enactment

10 of this Act and shall be promulgated no later than 18

11 months after such date.

12 SEC. 104. LIABILITY OF PERSONS CONDUCTING ENVIRON13 MENTAL ASSESSMENTS.

14 A person shall not be considered a person responsible

15 for a release or a threatened release of a hazardous sub16 stance simply by virtue of conducting an environmental

17 assessment on a property. Nothing in this section relieves

18 a person of any liability for failure to exercise due dili19 gence in performing an environmental assessment.

20 SEC. 105. APPLICABILITY.

21 This Act does not apply to properties listed or pro22 posed on the National Priorities List established under

23 CERCLA.
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1 TITLE II—INNOCENT LAND2 OWNER AND RESPONSIBLE

3 OWNER CLEANUPS

4 SEC. 201. APPLICABILITY.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—This title applies to a person who

6 is an innocent landowner or a responsible owner.

7 (b) INNOCENT LANDOWNER.—For purposes of this

8 title, an innocent landowner is a person—

9 (1) who either intends to own, as expressed as

10 an option to buy or other formal agreement, or who

11 owns, a parcel of real property on which industrial

12 activities take place;

13 (2) who did not, by act or omission, cause or

14 contribute to any contamination or to the release or

15 threatened release of a hazardous substance on the

16 real property; and

17 (3) who intends to reuse or redevelop the prop18 erty to retain or expand employment or who is using

19 the property to retain or expand employment.

20 (c) RESPONSIBLE OWNER.—For purposes of this

21 title, a responsible owner is a person—

22 (1) who owns a parcel of real property on which

23 industrial activities take place; and
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1 (2) who intends to reuse or redevelop the prop2 erty to retain or expand employment or who is using

3 the property to retain or expand employment.

4 SEC. 202. CLEANUP PLANS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—A person to which this title ap6 plies may submit a cleanup plan with respect to a parcel

7 of real property to the Environmental Protection Agency

8 for review and approval. The Administrator shall review

9 the plan and make a decision on whether the plan meets

10 the requirements of this section within no more than 90

11 days after receipt of the plan.

12 (b) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—A cleanup plan shall in13 clude the following with respect to the real property con14 cerned:

15 (1) An environmental assessment of the prop16 erty which describes the contamination, if any, on

17 the property and the significant actual risk it poses

18 to public health and the environment.

19 (2) Proposals to remediate any contamination

20 or condition causing a release or threatened release

21 which poses an immediate, direct, or imminent ac22 tual risk to public health and the environment, con23 sidering the present or future use of the property.

24 (3) Descriptions of measures needed to remove

25 significant actual risks to public health and the envi-
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1 ronment considering the future use of the property,

2 and a timetable for implementing the measures and

3 for monitoring the measures after they have been

4 completed. The plan is not required to provide for

5 the removal or remediation of the conditions or con6 taminants causing a release or threatened release on

7 the identified property if the Environmental Protec8 tion Agency determines that—

9 (i) activities required to undertake the pro10 posed reuse or redevelopment of the property

11 are proposed to be conducted in a manner

12 which will protect public health and the envi13 ronment;

14 (ii) any reuse or redevelopment of the

15 property will not aggravate or contribute to

16 contamination of the air, land, or water or to

17 a release or threatened release; and

18 (iii) the owner of the property agrees to co19 operate with the Environmental Protection

20 Agency or other persons acting at the direction

21 of the Environmental Protection Agency in tak22 ing response actions which may be necessary to

23 address any contamination, condition, or re24 leases or threatened releases not identified in
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1 the Voluntary Cleanup Plan or required to be

2 removed or remediated at a later date.

3 (4) Descriptions of any proposed deed restric4 tions on the present or future use of the property

5 designed to prevent contamination or protect the in6 tegrity of cleanup measures installed on the site.

7 (c) RISK ASSESSMENT.—Remediation proposals in8 cluded in a cleanup plan pursuant to subsection (b)(2) for

9 a property shall be based on the actual risk to human

10 health and the environment posed by contaminants on the

11 property, considering the following factors:

12 (1) The intended and allowable use or subse13 quent uses of the property.

14 (2) The ability of the contaminants to move in

15 a form and manner which would result in exposure

16 to humans and the surrounding environment at lev17 els considered to be a significant health risk.

18 (3) The potential risk to human health and the

19 environment of containing and isolating contami20 nants in a manner which prevents harmful exposure

21 to employees on the property, to the public, and to

22 the environment.

23 (4) The potential environmental risks of pro24 posed cleanup alternatives and their economic and

25 technical feasibility and reliability.
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1 (d) PUBLIC REVIEW.—A proposed cleanup plan shall

2 be subject to a 30-day public review and comment period.

3 Notice of the proposed plan shall be published in the Fed4 eral Register and a newspaper of general circulation serv5 ing the area in which the identified property is located.

6 The Environmental Protection Agency may hold a public

7 hearing on the plan if one is requested.

8 (e) CERTIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT RETENTION OR

9 EXPANSION.—The person submitting a cleanup plan

10 under this section shall also submit to the Environmental

11 Protection Agency a certification regarding employment

12 retention or expansion. The certification shall be a state13 ment signed by the person that the person intends to re14 tain the same level of employment at the property, or ex15 pand employment opportunities by a specific number, for

16 at least 5 years after approval of the cleanup plan by

17 EPA.

18 (f) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLETION.—A person who

19 submits a cleanup plan under this section may request the

20 Environmental Protection Agency to provide a written cer21 tification that the plan has been completed. The Environ22 mental Protection Agency shall provide such a certifi23 cation not later than 30 days after such a request is made.

24 (g) DEED RESTRICTION.—A cleanup plan may in25 clude a proposal for placing a restriction on the deed for
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1 the property covered by a cleanup plan which restricts the

2 uses of the property to industrial activities as specified in

3 the cleanup plan or to protect the integrity of cleanup

4 measures.

5 SEC. 203. PROTECTION FROM LIABILITY.

6 (a) PROTECTION.—Any person to which this section

7 applies shall not be liable under the Comprehensive Envi8 ronmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of

9 1980 or the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901

10 et seq.) (including claims for contribution or citizen suits)

11 for any contamination included in or not included in the

12 plan for the identified property, if the person undertakes

13 and the Environmental Protection Agency certifies as

14 complete (under section 202(f)) the actions to remove or

15 remediate contamination or releases or threatened releases

16 of hazardous substances on the identified property as re17 quired by the cleanup plan.

18 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The liability protection pro19 vided by this section applies to the following persons:

20 (1) Except as provided in subsection (c), a

21 landowner of the identified property.

22 (2) A person providing financing to the person

23 who undertakes and completes the activities required

24 under the cleanup plan, or who acquires the identi25 fied property.
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1 (3) A person who develops or occupies the iden2 tified property as a result of a lease or rent agree3 ment.

4 (4) A successor or assign of any person to

5 whom the liability protection applies, provided the

6 successor or assign is not a person responsible for

7 contamination on the property.

8 (c) EXCLUSIONS.—The protection from liability pro9 vided by this section does not apply to a property owner—

10 (1) who aggravates or contributes to a release

11 or threatened release identified but not remediated

12 under an approved cleanup plan on the identified

13 property;

14 (2) who obtains approval of a cleanup plan on

15 the identified property by fraud or misrepresentation

16 or by knowingly failing to disclose material informa17 tion that would have made the person responsible for

18 a release or threatened release;

19 (3) who does not fulfill the certification require20 ment under section 202(e) to retain or expand em21 ployment, unless there is an explanation, determined

22 to be valid by the Administrator, for not fulfilling

23 such requirement, based on criteria such as natural

24 disaster, industry trends, labor force, or loss of a

25 major supplier or market; or
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1 (4) who was partially responsible for contami2 nation on the site, other than contamination identi3 fied in a cleanup plan submitted by a responsible

4 owner.

5 (d) FINES AND PENALTIES.—Innocent property own6 ers who submit a cleanup plan shall not be responsible

7 for paying any fines or penalties levied against any person

8 responsible for contamination on the property.

9 SEC. 204. CLEANUP GUARANTEE.

10 (a) GUARANTEE.—Any person with an approved

11 cleanup plan shall submit to the Environmental Protection

12 Agency a cleanup guarantee fee upon certification by the

13 Environmental Protection Agency under section 202(f)

14 that the plan has been completed. The guarantee shall be

15 in an amount negotiated by the parties that is a certain

16 percentage of the cost of preparing and implementing the

17 cleanup plan. The guarantee is to be held in the Industrial

18 Land Recycling Fund established under section 601 for

19 a period of 2 years after certification of completion under

20 section 202(f).

21 (b) FORM.—The cleanup guarantee fee can be in a

22 form acceptable to the Environmental Protection Agency,

23 which shall include collateral bonds, cash or other market24 able securities, certificates of deposit, letters of credit, or

25 other acceptable financial guarantees. The Environmental
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1 Protection Agency may also accept phased deposits of col2 lateral to meet this requirement.

3 (c) USE.—The cleanup guarantee fee is to be ear4 marked specifically for the Environmental Protection

5 Agency’s use in the event the cleanup measures approved

6 by the Environmental Protection Agency in a cleanup plan

7 fail to contain or prevent a release or do not result in re8 ducing the risk presented by the site.

9 (d) DISPOSITION.—The cleanup guarantee fee will be

10 returned to the person implementing the cleanup plan at

11 the end of 2 years after certification of completion under

12 section 202(f) if the property owner satisfies any monitor13 ing or other post-certification requirements described in

14 the cleanup plan and if the measures taken to deal with

15 contamination required by the plan performed as expected.

16 Any successor to the property owner shall maintain the

17 guarantee for the remainder of the 2-year period. The

18 cleanup guarantee fee shall be forfeited if the property

19 owner is excluded from liability protection under section

20 203(b).

21 SEC. 205. CLEANUP LOAN PROGRAM.

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

23 separate account in the United States Treasury to be

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

25 fund administered by the Administrator. Within 60 days
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1 of the effective date of this Act the Administrator shall

2 finalize guidelines and issue application forms to admin3 ister this Fund.

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

5 Fund is to help provide funding to persons undertaking

6 an environmental assessment of a site as part of a cleanup

7 plan and for implementing an approved cleanup plan. The

8 funding shall be in the form of low-interest loans at an

9 interest rate not to exceed 2 percent and grants for up

10 to one-half of the costs incurred for completing an environ11 mental assessment and implementing a cleanup plan for

12 local economic development agencies and other applicants.

13 (c) FUNDS.—In addition to any funds appropriated

14 by Congress, at least $5,000,000 shall be transferred on

15 July 1 of each year from the Hazardous Substances

16 Superfund to the Cleanup Loan Fund for the purpose of

17 implementing the program established in this section.

18 Monies received by the Administrator as repayment of out19 standing loans shall be deposited in the Cleanup Loan

20 Fund. Any interest earned by monies in the Cleanup Loan

21 Fund shall remain in the Fund. The first transfer of funds

22 from the Hazardous Substances Superfund required by

23 this paragraph shall occur within 60 days of the effective

24 date of this Act.
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1 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall on

2 October 1 of each year report to Congress on the grants,

3 loans, expenditures, and commitments made from the

4 Cleanup Loan Fund.

5 SEC. 206. PENALTY.

6 Where a property owner fails to retain or expand em7 ployment as certified under section 202(e), the property

8 owner shall pay a penalty to the Industrial Land Recycling

9 Fund equal to the cost of preparing and implementing the

10 cleanup plan in any year the owner fails to meet employ11 ment commitments. This penalty is in addition to any

12 other authority provided to the Environmental Protection

13 Agency by this Act.

14 TITLE III—ABANDONED INDUS15 TRIAL LAND REDEVELOP16 MENT

17 SEC. 301. APPLICABILITY.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—This title applies to a person

19 who—

20 (1) either intends to own, as expressed as an

21 option to buy or other formal agreement, or who

22 owns, a parcel of real property used for industrial

23 activities where there is no financially viable respon24 sible person to cleanup contamination on the prop-
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1 erty causing a significant threat to public health or

2 the environment;

3 (2) did not, by act or omission, cause or con4 tribute to any contamination or to the release or

5 threatened release of a hazardous substance on the

6 identified real property; and

7 (3) intends to reuse or redevelop the property

8 to expand employment opportunities.

9 (b) EMPLOYMENT EXPANSION.—For purposes of this

10 title, employment expansion shall mean providing employ11 ment opportunities for a period of 5 years after an agree12 ment is signed under section 302(d).

13 SEC. 302. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.

14 (a) ASSESSMENT.—A prospective purchaser or prop15 erty owner shall conduct an environmental assessment on

16 the identified property to establish a baseline of any exist17 ing contamination on the site.

18 (b) PUBLIC REVIEW.—The proposed environmental

19 assessment shall be subject to a 30-day public review and

20 comment period. Notice of the availability of the completed

21 assessment shall be published in the Federal Register and

22 a newspaper of general circulation serving the area in

23 which the identified property is located. The Environ24 mental Protection Agency may hold a public hearing on

25 the assessment if one is requested.
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1 (c) EPA REVIEW.—Within 90 days after a completed

2 environmental assessment is received, the Environmental

3 Protection Agency shall determine whether the assessment

4 adequately identified the environmental hazards and risks

5 posed by the site.

6 (d) AGREEMENT.—The Environmental Protection

7 Agency and the prospective purchaser or property owner

8 shall enter into an agreement based on the environmental

9 assessment which outlines cleanup liabilities for the identi10 fied property.

11 SEC. 303. CLEANUP LIABILITY.

12 (a) IMMEDIATE THREATS.—The prospective pur13 chaser or property owner shall be responsible for remedi14 ation of any immediate, direct, or imminent threats to

15 public health or the environment which would prevent the

16 property from being occupied for its intended purpose,

17 such as drummed waste.

18 (b) IDENTIFIED CONTAMINATION.—The prospective

19 purchaser or property owner shall not be held responsible

20 for the remediation of any contamination identified in the

21 completed environmental assessment accepted by the En22 vironmental Protection Agency.

23 (c) NEW LIABILITY.—Nothing in this Act shall re24 lieve the prospective purchaser or property owner of any

25 cleanup liability for contamination later caused by the pro-
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1 spective purchaser or property owner. The prospective

2 purchaser or property owner shall also remain responsible

3 for any contamination which was not identified and which

4 was known to be a significant risk to public health or the

5 environment at the time the assessment was completed.

6 (d) RISK ASSESSMENT.—Remediation alternatives

7 for a property covered by an environmental assessment

8 shall be based on the actual risk to human health and

9 the environment posed by contaminants on the property,

10 considering the following factors:

11 (1) The intended and allowable use or subse12 quent uses of the property.

13 (2) The ability of the contaminants to move in

14 a form and manner which would result in exposure

15 to humans and the surrounding environment at lev16 els considered to be a significant health risk.

17 (3) The potential risk to human health and the

18 environment of containing and isolating contami19 nants in a manner which prevents harmful exposure

20 to employees on the property, to the public, and to

21 the environment.

22 (4) The potential environmental risks of pro23 posed cleanup alternatives and their economic and

24 technical feasibility and reliability.
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1 (e) LIABILITY OF OTHER PARTIES.—A person pro2 viding financing to the prospective purchaser or property

3 owner or a person who develops or occupies the identified

4 property as a result of a lease or rent agreement shall

5 not be considered a responsible person for cleaning up con6 tamination on property covered by an agreement developed

7 pursuant to this title.

8 (f) PAST PENALTIES.—A prospective purchaser or

9 property owner submitting an environmental assessment

10 under this title shall not be responsible for paying any

11 fines or penalties levied against any person responsible for

12 contamination on the property.

13 SEC. 304. OWNER RESPONSIBILITIES.

14 (a) PREVENTION.—The prospective purchaser or

15 property owner shall take the steps necessary to prevent

16 any existing contamination on the site from becoming

17 worse as the result of its activities.

18 (b) NONINTERFERENCE.—The prospective purchaser

19 or property owner shall not interfere with any subsequent

20 remediation efforts by the Environmental Protection

21 Agency or others to deal with contamination identified in

22 the environmental assessment.

23 (c) DEED RESTRICTION.—The prospective purchaser

24 or property owner and the Environmental Protection

25 Agency may agree to having a restriction placed on the
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1 deed for the property covered by this title which restricts

2 the use of the property to industrial activities which will

3 protect the integrity of any cleanup measures implemented

4 on the property or prevent contaminated portions of the

5 property from being disturbed.

6 SEC. 305. TRANSFERABILITY.

7 The agreement on cleanup liabilities entered into by

8 the Environmental Protection Agency and the prospective

9 purchaser or property owner pursuant to this title is trans10 ferable without review by the Environmental Protection

11 Agency in its entirety to any and all subsequent owners

12 of the property who did not, by act or omission, cause or

13 contribute to any contamination or to the release or

14 threatened release of a hazardous substance on the identi15 fied property.

16 SEC. 306. THIRD PARTIES.

17 No person who submits an environmental assessment

18 accepted under this title by the Environmental Protection

19 Agency or who is granted liability protection under section

20 303(e) shall be subject to citizen suits or other contribu21 tion actions brought by responsible persons for a release

22 or potential release on the identified property.

23 SEC. 307. FUNDING.

24 Prospective purchasers and property owners redevel25 oping abandoned property under this title shall be eligible
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1 for funding under the Cleanup Loan Program established

2 under section 205 to perform environmental assessments

3 or to implement any remediation actions required of the

4 prospective purchaser or property owner under this title.

5 TITLE IV—NO ACTION

6 DETERMINATIONS

7 SEC. 401. NO ACTION DETERMINATIONS.

8 Property owners may request and the Environmental

9 Protection Agency may issue written determinations that

10 it will take no enforcement or cleanup actions under

11 CERCLA or the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C.

12 6901 et seq.) against an innocent landowner who owns

13 real property and is otherwise not responsible for any

14 identified contamination or a release or threatened release

15 of a hazardous substance in any case in which—

16 (1) an environmental assessment or transaction

17 screen analysis performed by a registered environ18 mental professional indicates no significant contami19 nation or contamination which does not pose signifi20 cant actual risk to public health and the environ21 ment; or

22 (2) the Environmental Protection Agency finds

23 that contamination or a release or threatened release

24 of a hazardous substance originates from a source

25 on an adjacent or nearby real property.
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1 SEC. 402. REVIEW DEADLINE.

2 The Environmental Protection Agency shall make a

3 decision on whether or not to issue a no action determina4 tion no later than 90 days after a request is made.

5 SEC. 403. APPLICABILITY.

6 A no action determination shall also apply to any per7 son providing financing to the person named in the deter8 mination and to any person developing or occupying the

9 identified property as the result of a lease or rent agree10 ment.

11 SEC. 404. EXCLUSIONS AND CONDITIONS.

12 The Environmental Protection Agency may invalidate

13 a no action determination if new information indicates the

14 property owned by the person is the source of the contami15 nation or release or if the person is later determined to

16 be responsible for the release. The property owner must

17 allow entry to the property for the purpose of taking any

18 remediation and response actions needed to address con19 tamination on the adjacent site and not interfere with any

20 response action. The Environmental Protection Agency

21 may attach other conditions it feels are necessary to allow

22 the Environmental Protection Agency to adequately re23 spond to a release.

24 SEC. 405. TRANSFERABILITY.

25 A no action determination may be transferred by the

26 property owner to successors and assigns, if the successors
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1 and assigns are not otherwise responsible for any contami2 nation on the adjacent property. The successors and as3 signs shall be bound by the conditions placed on the deter4 mination by the Environmental Protection Agency. A no

5 action determination shall also be extended to the succes6 sors and assigns of parties identified in section 403.

7 SEC. 406. THIRD PARTIES.

8 No person who is the subject of a no action deter9 mination issued by the Environmental Protection Agency

10 or who is granted liability protection under section 403

11 shall be subject to either citizen suits or other contribution

12 actions brought by responsible persons for a release or po13 tential release identified in the no action determination.

14 TITLE V—REGISTRATION OF EN15 VIRONMENTAL PROFES16 SIONALS

17 SEC. 501. REGISTRATION.

18 (a) GENERAL.—The Environmental Protection Agen19 cy may only accept environmental assessments or trans20 action screen reviews as required under this Act that are

21 prepared by Environmental Professionals registered with

22 the Environmental Protection Agency starting one year

23 after the Environmental Protection Agency qualifications

24 for registration are established under section 502. Both
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1 individual Environmental Professionals and corporations

2 can be registered under this title.

3 (b) REGISTRATION PERIOD.—Registration for an En4 vironmental Professional shall be valid for a period of one

5 year and shall be renewed annually.

6 (c) INTERIM REVIEWS.—Nothing in this section shall

7 prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from ac8 cepting environmental assessments or transaction screen

9 before the registration requirements under this title be10 come effective.

11 SEC. 502. QUALIFICATIONS.

12 The Environmental Protection Agency shall establish

13 qualifications for Environmental Professionals requesting

14 certification including—

15 (1) education, training, and experience in pre16 paring environmental assessments;

17 (2) certification or accreditation by professional

18 groups such as the Institute of Professional Envi19 ronmental Practice; and

20 (3) an evaluation of ability to meet best profes21 sional and technical standards for preparing environ22 mental assessments.

23 SEC. 503. WITHHOLDING REGISTRATION.

24 The Environmental Protection Agency may withhold,

25 withdraw, or not renew registration of an Environmental
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1 Professional if the applicant does not meet the qualifica2 tions to be registered or if the Environmental Protection

3 Agency determines the environmental assessment submit4 ted by the Environmental Professional do not meet best

5 professional and technical standards.

6 SEC. 504. REGISTRATION FEE.

7 The initial fee for registering Environmental Profes8 sionals for the first time shall be $150. The registration

9 renewal fee shall be $100. The Environmental Protection

10 Agency may by regulation change the initial registration

11 and registration renewal fees.

12 TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS

13 PROVISIONS

14 SEC. 601. INDUSTRIAL LAND RECYCLING FUND.

15 (a) FUND.—There is hereby established a separate

16 account in the United States Treasury to be known as the

17 Industrial Land Recycling Fund, which shall be a special

18 fund administered by the Environmental Protection

19 Agency.

20 (b) PURPOSE.—The monies deposited in this Fund

21 shall be used by the Environmental Protection Agency to

22 remediate a release or threatened release that poses a sig23 nificant risk to public health or the environment where

24 the Environmental Protection Agency has certified that a

25 cleanup plan has been completed. Monies from the Haz-
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1 ardous Substance Superfund shall also be available to the

2 Environmental Protection Agency to remediate a release

3 or threatened release on a property covered by a cleanup

4 plan.

5 (c) FUNDS.—In addition to any funds appropriated

6 by the Congress, private contributions and any fines and

7 penalties assessed under this Act and the cleanup guaran8 tees assessed or forfeited under sections 204 and 304 shall

9 be deposited into the Fund.

10 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Environmental Protec11 tion Agency shall on October 1 of each year report to Con12 gress on the expenditures and commitments made from

13 the Industrial Land Recycling Fund.

14 SEC. 602. ENFORCEMENT.

15 (a) ORDERS.—The Environmental Protection Agency

16 may issue orders to such persons and municipalities as

17 it deems necessary to aid in the enforcement of the provi18 sions of this Act. An order issued under this Act shall take

19 effect upon service, unless the order specifies otherwise.

20 The power of the Environmental Protection Agency to

21 issue an order under this Act is in addition to any other

22 remedy which may be afforded to the Environmental Pro23 tection Agency pursuant to this Act or any other Act.

24 (b) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—The Environmental

25 Protection Agency may use the enforcement authorities
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1 (including penalty provisions) contained in CERCLA and

2 the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.)

3 to enforce the provisions of this Act.

4 SEC. 603. DELEGATION TO STATES.

5 (a) COMPATIBLE PROGRAM.—If a State has adopted

6 an industrial and commercial land recycling program com7 patible with the provisions of this Act, the Administrator

8 may delegate primary authority for the administration and

9 implementation of the programs outlined in titles II and

10 III to that State.

11 (b) LIABILITY PROTECTION.—If a State is delegated

12 primary authority under subsection (a) for administration

13 and implementation, the liability protection provided

14 under sections 203, 303(e), and 306 of this Act concern15 ing direct and third party contribution actions and citizen

16 suits under CERCLA and the Solid Waste Disposal Act

17 (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) shall be extended to the partici18 pating parties as if such protection were provided by the

19 Administrator.

20 (c) STATE FUNDING.—States delegated primary au21 thority to administer and implement titles II and III of

22 this Act shall be eligible to apply for funds from the Indus23 trial Land Recycling Fund to help offset the cost of ad24 ministering the program.
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1 SEC. 604. AUTHORITY RESERVED.

2 Nothing in this Act shall affect the ability or author3 ity of the Environmental Protection Agency or any person

4 to seek any relief available under this Act or any other

5 Act against any party who is not subject to the liability

6 protection provided under this Act.

7 SEC. 605. CONSTRUCTION.

8 The protection from cleanup liability afforded under

9 this Act shall be in addition to the exclusions from being

10 a potentially responsible party existing under Federal en11 vironmental statutes.

12 SEC. 606. EFFECTIVE DATE.

13 This Act shall take effect 60 days after the date of

14 the enactment of this Act.

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