I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1005

To assist distressed cities with large, abandoned factories and hazardous

waste sites.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 18, 1993

Mr. SHAYS (for himself, Mr. MFUME, and Mr. SANTORUM) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Energy and

Commerce and Public Works and Transportation

A BILL

To assist distressed cities with large, abandoned factories

and hazardous waste 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 ‘‘Urban Environmental

5 Initiative Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. EPA STUDIES.

7 (a) STUDY OF STATE HEALTH-BASED CLEANUP

8 LAWS.—

9 (1) STUDY.—The Administrator shall conduct a

10 study of State laws and standards that are based on
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1 health for the cleanup of sites at which any hazard2 ous substance was released or disposed of. In con3 ducting the study, the Administrator shall consider

4 reports prepared by the Association of State Terri5 torial Solid Waste Management Officials and the

6 Environmental Law Institute.

7 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS TO STATES.—As part

8 of the study, the Administrator shall make rec9 ommendations to the States on health-based cleanup

10 standards. Such recommendations shall include guid11 ance to the States on the development of health12 based standards for sites located in urban areas

13 which are more or less restrictive depending on the

14 future use of the site. Such guidance shall address

15 the issue of whether facilities to be used for parking

16 lots, warehouses, industrial parks, or other similar

17 purposes need to be cleaned up as extensively as

18 sites to be used for residential and retail purposes.

19 In developing the guidance, the Administrator shall

20 consider programs in Michigan that place different

21 restrictions on different kinds of development at

22 sites. The guidance also shall encourage States to

23 place restrictions on future uses of sites to those

24 uses which are consistent with whatever health-based

25 standards are applied at the sites.
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1 (3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator

2 shall submit to Congress a report on the study and

3 the recommendations to States not later than 12

4 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

5 (b) STUDY ON STATE PROPERTY TRANSFER

6 LAWS.—

7 (1) STUDY.—The Administrator shall conduct a

8 study on property transfer laws of the States to

9 evaluate such laws and assess the merits of such

10 laws. In conducting the study, the Administrator

11 shall address the issue of whether such laws promote

12 better land management practices, whether such

13 laws help locate sites on which hazardous substances

14 have been released or disposed of, and whether such

15 laws provide better protection for the buyer.

16 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS TO STATES.—As part

17 of the study, the Administrator shall make rec18 ommendations to the States on property transfer

19 laws.

20 (3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator

21 shall submit to Congress a report on the study not

22 later than 12 months after the date of the enact23 ment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 3. EPA SUPERFUND INVENTORY DATA BASE.

2 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The Administrator shall estab3 lish and maintain in a computer data base a national

4 superfund site inventory. The data shall be available by

5 computer at local libraries.

6 (b) INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED.—The data to

7 be made available in the data base shall include informa8 tion on any Federal action at a site or facility at which

9 a hazardous substance was released or disposed of. Such

10 information shall indicate, at a minimum, whether the En11 vironmental Protection Agency has conducted a prelimi12 nary site evaluation with respect to each site listed in the

13 inventory, whether further Federal action has been deter14 mined to be warranted, and whether the site is on the Na15 tional Priorities List.

16 SEC. 4. SPECIAL SUPERFUND PROGRAM FOR TARGETED IN17 DUSTRIAL SITES.

18 (a) TARGETED SITES.—For purposes of this section,

19 the Administrator shall prepare a list of superfund sites

20 located in urban areas that would be suitable for economic

21 development. Such sites shall be referred to in this section

22 as ‘‘targeted sites’’.

23 (b) PILOT STUDY OF USE OF INNOVATIVE TECH24 NOLOGY.—Not later than one year after the date of the

25 enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall develop and

26 begin to carry out a pilot study of the effectiveness of in-
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1 novative and cost effective technologies for conducting re2 sponse actions at targeted sites. The Administrator shall

3 include in the pilot study only those targeted sites that

4 are vacant and not likely to be used in the near future.

5 (c) COVENANT NOT TO SUE FOR SITES PURCHASED

6 FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.—(1) Subject to para7 graphs (2) and (3), in any case in which a person, includ8 ing a city, purchases a targeted site for the purpose of

9 economic development, the Administrator may provide a

10 covenant not to sue such person concerning any liability

11 to the United States under the Comprehensive Environ12 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of

13 1980, including future liability, resulting from a release

14 or threatened release of a hazardous substance at such

15 site. Any such covenant not to sue shall not apply with

16 respect to any release or threatened release which is

17 caused by conduct of the person which is negligent.

18 (2) A covenant not to sue with respect to a site shall

19 not take effect under paragraph (1) unless the person en20 ters into an agreement with the Administrator to complete

21 remedial action at the site in accordance with the National

22 Contingency Plan.

23 (3) A covenant not to sue a person concerning future

24 liability to the United States under paragraph (1) shall

25 include an exception to the covenant that allows the Ad-
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1 ministrator to sue such person concerning future liability

2 resulting from the release or threatened release that is the

3 subject of the covenant where such liability arises out of

4 conditions which are unknown at the time the Adminis5 trator enters into an agreement under paragraph (2) with

6 respect to completion of remedial action at the site con7 cerned.

8 (d) PREFERENCE FOR CLEANUP AT TARGETED

9 SITES.—In determining which sites to give priority for re10 sponse action under the Comprehensive Environmental

11 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, the

12 Administrator shall give preference to targeted sites that

13 are located in the most populous areas, pose the greatest

14 threat to human health, and have the greatest potential

15 for economic development.

16 SEC. 5. EXPEDITED DECISIONS ON SUPERFUND SITES IN

17 CERTAIN DISTRESSED CITIES.

18 (a) RIGHT TO PETITION.—Any city within whose ju19 risdiction is located a targeted site (contained on the list

20 prepared pursuant to section 4(a)) may petition the Ad21 ministrator for an expedited decision on whether a tar22 geted site within the city will be placed on the National

23 Priorities List under the Comprehensive Environmental

24 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980.
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1 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—After a city submits a petition

2 under subsection (a) with respect to a site, the Adminis3 trator shall require the owner or other potentially respon4 sible party at the site concerned to prepare, in consultation

5 with the Environmental Protection Agency, a preliminary

6 assessment and evaluation of the site. Not later than 12

7 months after such assessment and evaluation are com8 pleted, the Administrator shall review the assessment and

9 evaluation and determine whether the site should be

10 placed on the National Priorities List. If the Adminis11 trator determines the site should not be placed on the List,

12 the Administrator shall issue a certificate stating that the

13 site is not a Superfund site.

14 SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO SUPERFUND PERTAINING TO IN15 NOCENT LANDOWNER DEFENSE.

16 Section 101(35) of the Comprehensive Environmental

17 Response, Compensation and Liability Act (42 U.S.C.

18 9601 et seq.) is amended by redesignating subparagraphs

19 (C) and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively

20 and inserting after subparagraph (B), the following:

21 ‘‘(C)(i) The Administrator shall establish guidelines

22 defining the actions that are necessary to fulfill the re23 quirement to undertake all appropriate inquiry for pur24 poses of subparagraph (B). At a minimum, ‘all appro25 priate inquiry’ means an investigation of the real property,
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1 conducted by environmental professionals, to determine or

2 discover the obviousness of the presence or likely presence

3 of a release or threatened release of hazardous substances

4 on the real property and which consists of a review of each

5 of the following sources of information concerning the pre6 vious ownership and uses of the real property:

7 ‘‘(I) Recorded chain of title documents regard8 ing the real property, including all deeds, easements,

9 leases, restrictions, and covenants for a period of 50

10 years.

11 ‘‘(II) Aerial photographs which may reflect

12 prior uses of the real property and which are reason13 ably obtainable through State or local government

14 agencies.

15 ‘‘(III) Determination of the existence of re16 corded environmental cleanup liens against the real

17 property which have arisen pursuant to Federal,

18 State, and local statutes.

19 ‘‘(IV) Reasonably obtainable Federal, State,

20 and local government records of sites or facilities

21 where there has been a release of hazardous sub22 stances and which are likely to cause or contribute

23 to a release or threatened release of hazardous sub24 stances on the real property, including investigation

25 reports for such sites or facilities; reasonably obtain-
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1 able Federal, State, and local government environ2 mental records of activities likely to cause or con3 tribute to a release or a threatened release of haz4 ardous substances on the real property, including

5 landfill and other disposal location records, under6 ground storage tank records, hazardous waste han7 dler and generator records and spill reporting

8 records; and such other reasonably obtainable Fed9 eral, State, and local government environmental

10 records which report incidents or activities which are

11 likely to cause or contribute to a release or threat12 ened release of hazardous substances on the real

13 property. In order to be deemed ‘reasonably obtain14 able’ within the meaning of this subclause, a copy or

15 reasonable facsimile of the record must be obtainable

16 from the government agency by request.

17 ‘‘(V) A visual site inspection of the real prop18 erty and all facilities and improvements on the real

19 property, and a visual inspection of immediately ad20 jacent properties from the real property, including

21 an investigation of any chemical use, storage, treat22 ment and disposal practices on the property.

23 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the term

24 ‘environmental professional’ means an individual, or an

25 entity managed or controlled by such individual who,
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1 through academic training, occupational experience and

2 reputation (such as engineers, environmental consultants

3 and attorneys), can objectively conduct one or more as4 pects of the investigation described in clause (i).

5 ‘‘(iii) In establishing the guidelines under this sub6 paragraph, the Administrator shall consider any discus7 sions of the American Society for Testing and Materials.’’.

8 SEC. 7. ASSISTANCE TO STATES.

9 The Administrator may provide technical and finan10 cial assistance to States for carrying out activities associ11 ated with the implementation of the provisions of this Act

12 and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com13 pensation, and Liability Act of 1980.

14 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

15 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions

16 apply:

17 (1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad18 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

19 (2) The term ‘‘hazardous substance’’ has the

20 meaning given that term by section 101(14) of the

21 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensa22 tion, and Liability Act of 1980.

23 (3) The term ‘‘release’’ has the meaning given

24 that term by section 101(22) of the Comprehensive
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1 Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liabil2 ity Act of 1980.

3 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION.

4 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin5 istrator the sum of $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1993,

6 $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1994, and $20,000,000 for

7 each of fiscal years 1995, 1996, and 1997 to carry out

8 the requirements of this Act and the amendments made

9 by this Act, including assistance to States under section

10 7.

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