I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3843

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

FEBRUARY 10, 1994

Mr. VISCLOSKY (for himself, Mr. REGULA, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. GALLO, Mr. LIPINSKI, and Mr. FINGERHUT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

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’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) Hundreds of thousands of obsolete indus2 trial sites nationwide are polluted with medium to

3 low amounts of environmental contamination.

4 (2) Reusing these sites requires cleanup of the

5 contamination, adding costs and uncertainties to the

6 redevelopment process.

7 (3) Left unused, these contaminated sites mean

8 loss of tax revenues and job opportunities for the

9 community and pose potential risks to nearby resi10 dents or people who venture onto the site.

11 (4) State efforts to encourage voluntary cleanup

12 and redevelopment of such sites are hindered by

13 Federal requirements for environmental permits to

14 conduct the cleanups and by the lack of Federal cer15 tification of such State efforts.

16 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to encour17 age cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated industrial

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

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

20 SEC. 3. CERTIFICATION OF STATE VOLUNTARY CLEANUP

21 PROGRAMS.

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

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

24 the Environmental Protection Agency (hereinafter in this

25 Act referred to as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall establish cer-
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1 tification criteria for State voluntary cleanup programs at

2 eligible facilities. If a State meets the criteria for certifi3 cation, the Administrator shall certify the State to carry

4 out the cleanup program in such State at eligible facilities

5 in lieu of any Federal program that addresses the cleanup

6 of such facilities under the Comprehensive Environmental

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

8 Solid Waste Disposal Act.

9 (b) BIENNIAL AUDITS AND REVOCATION OF STATE

10 CERTIFICATION.—The Administrator shall ensure that

11 State programs continue to meet the terms of the certifi12 cation issued pursuant to subsection (a) by conducting bi13 ennial audits of State voluntary cleanup programs. If the

14 Administrator finds that the State is not administering

15 the program in accordance with the terms of the certifi16 cation, the Administrator shall notify the State of defi17 ciencies and of the Administrator’s intention to withdraw

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

19 within 6 months. Withdrawal of State certification shall

20 not affect any cleanup completed and approved by the

21 State as of the date of such withdrawal.

22 (c) SPECIFIC CRITERIA.—The Administrator shall re23 quire that, in order for a State voluntary cleanup program

24 to be certified under subsection (a), the program shall, at

25 a minimum, contain each of the following provisions—
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1 (1) The program shall provide that only eligible

2 facilities, as described in subsection (d), may partici3 pate in the program.

4 (2) The program shall provide adequate oppor5 tunities for public participation in the development

6 and implementation of cleanup plans for eligible fa7 cilities. Public participation requirements shall in8 clude but not be limited to providing opportunity for

9 affected parties to review and comment on cleanup

10 documents and plans, and providing opportunity for

11 public input to the remedy selection process. Af12 fected parties shall include but not be limited to

13 local work force representatives, adjacent community

14 residents, and local environmental and other public

15 interest organizations.

16 (3) The program shall provide technical assist17 ance throughout each voluntary cleanup.

18 (4) The program shall provide adequate over19 sight and enforcement authority to ensure that the

20 voluntary cleanups comply with Federal and State

21 laws (except permit requirements as provided in sub22 section (e)).

23 (5) provide for a certification from the State to

24 the owner or prospective purchaser of an eligible fa25 cility that the cleanup is complete.
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1 (d) ELIGIBLE FACILITIES.—For purposes of this Act,

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

3 in a State that is determined by the State to have environ4 mental contamination that—

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

6 or reuse of the facility or property; and

7 (2) is limited in scope and can be comprehen8 sively and readily evaluated.

9 Such term shall not include any of the following:

10 (A) A facility that is eligible for abatement ac11 tion under section 106 of the Comprehensive Envi12 ronmental Response, Compensation, and Liability

13 Act of 1980.

14 (B) A facility that, as of the date of the enact15 ment of this Act, is subject to Federal enforcement

16 action under the Comprehensive Environmental Re17 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42

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

19 (C) A facility included, or proposed for inclu20 sion, on the National Priorities List or on the com21 prehensive environmental response, compensation,

22 and liability inventory system (‘‘CERCLIS’’) that

23 has been evaluated as high priority under the hazard

24 ranking system.
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1 (D) A facility required to have a permit under

2 section 3005 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act that

3 does not have a permit under that section and does

4 not qualify for authorization to operate in interim

5 status under subsection (e) of that section.

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

7 a closure notification under subtitle C of the Solid

8 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) is sub9 mitted and closure requirements are specified in a

10 closure plan or permit.

11 (F) A facility subject to corrective action under

12 section 3004(u) or 3008(h) of the Solid Waste Dis13 posal Act (42 U.S.C. 5924(u) or 6928(h)) that is

14 evaluated as high priority under the Environmental

15 Protection Agency’s National Corrective Action Pri16 ority System as set forth in regulations under sub17 title C of the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

18 (G) A facility at which assistance for response

19 activities may be obtained pursuant to subtitle I of

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

21 seq.) from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank

22 Trust Fund established under section 9508 of the

23 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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