I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1758 

To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 

Liability Act of 1980 to modify provisions relating to brownfield remediation grants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2017 

Ms. ESTY (for herself, Mr. KATKO, Mr. DEFAZIO, and Mrs. NAPOLITANO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 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 modify provisions 

relating to brownfield remediation grants, and for other 

purposes. 

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 ‘‘Brownfields Reauthor5 ization Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCREASED FUNDING LIMIT FOR DIRECT REMEDI2 ATION. 

3 Section 104(k)(3) of the Comprehensive Environ4 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

5 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)(3)) is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following: 

7 ‘‘(E) EXCEPTION.—If, in any fiscal year, 

8 the amount appropriated under this subsection 

9 exceeds $200,000,000, a grant provided in that 

10 fiscal year under subparagraph (A)(ii) may not 

11 exceed $600,000 for each site to be remedi12 ated.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. MULTIPURPOSE BROWNFIELDS GRANTS. 

14 Section 104(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental 

15 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

16 U.S.C. 9604(k)) is amended— 

17 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 

18 (12) as paragraphs (5) through (13), respectively; 

19 (2) in paragraph (3)(A) by striking ‘‘Subject to 

20 paragraphs (4) and (5)’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to 

21 paragraphs (5) and (6)’’; and 

22 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(4) MULTIPURPOSE BROWNFIELDS GRANTS.— 

25 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara26 graph (D) and paragraphs (5) and (6), the AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Mar 31, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1758.IH H1758

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1 ministrator shall establish a program to provide 

2 multipurpose grants to an eligible entity, based 

3 on the considerations under paragraph (3)(C), 

4 to carry out inventory, characterization, assess5 ment, planning, or remediation activities at 1 or 

6 more brownfield sites in a proposed area. 

7 ‘‘(B) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 

8 ‘‘(i) INDIVIDUAL GRANT AMOUNTS.— 

9 A grant awarded under this paragraph 

10 may not exceed $950,000. 

11 ‘‘(ii) CUMULATIVE GRANT

12 AMOUNTS.—The total amount of grants 

13 awarded for each fiscal year under this 

14 paragraph may not exceed 15 percent of 

15 the funds made available for the fiscal year 

16 to carry out this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA.—In awarding a grant 

18 under this paragraph, the Administrator shall 

19 consider the extent to which an eligible entity is 

20 able— 

21 ‘‘(i) to provide an overall plan for re22 vitalization of the 1 or more brownfield 

23 sites in the proposed area in which the 

24 multipurpose grant will be used; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to demonstrate a capacity to con2 duct the range of eligible activities that 

3 will be funded by the multipurpose grant; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(iii) to demonstrate that a multipur6 pose grant will meet the needs of the 1 or 

7 more brownfield sites in the proposed area. 

8 ‘‘(D) CONDITION.—As a condition of re9 ceiving a grant under this paragraph, each eli10 gible entity shall expend the full amount of the 

11 grant not later than the date that is 3 years 

12 after the date on which the grant is awarded to 

13 the eligible entity unless the Administrator, in 

14 the discretion of the Administrator, provides an 

15 extension.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. EXPANDED ELIGIBILITY FOR NONPROFIT ORGANI17 ZATIONS. 

18 Section 104(k)(1) of the Comprehensive Environ19 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

20 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)(1)) is amended— 

21 (1) in subparagraph (G) by striking ‘‘or’’ after 

22 the semicolon; 

23 (2) in subparagraph (H) by striking the period 

24 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

25 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(I) an organization described in section 

2 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

3 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) 

4 of that Code; 

5 ‘‘(J) a limited liability corporation in which 

6 all managing members are organizations de7 scribed in subparagraph (I) or limited liability 

8 corporations whose sole members are organiza9 tions described in subparagraph (I); 

10 ‘‘(K) a limited partnership in which all 

11 general partners are organizations described in 

12 subparagraph (I) or limited liability corpora13 tions whose sole members are organizations de14 scribed in subparagraph (I); or 

15 ‘‘(L) a qualified community development 

16 entity (as defined in section 45D(c)(1) of the 

17 Internal Revenue Code of 1986).’’. 

18 SEC. 5. ALLOWING ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS FOR GRANT 

19 RECIPIENTS. 

20 Paragraph (5) of section 104(k) of the Comprehen21 sive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liabil22 ity Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)) (as redesignated by 

23 section 3(1) of this Act) is amended— 

24 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 

25 (A) in clause (i)— 


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1 (i) by striking subclause (III); and 

2 (ii) by redesignating subclauses (IV) 

3 and (V) as subclauses (III) and (IV), re4 spectively; 

5 (B) by striking clause (ii); 

6 (C) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause 

7 (ii); and 

8 (D) in clause (ii) (as so redesignated) by 

9 striking ‘‘Notwithstanding clause (i)(IV)’’ and 

10 inserting ‘‘Notwithstanding clause (i)(III)’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(E) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity 

14 may use up to 9 percent of the amounts 

15 made available under a grant or loan 

16 under this subsection for administrative 

17 costs. 

18 ‘‘(ii) RESTRICTION.—For purposes of 

19 clause (i), the term ‘administrative costs’ 

20 does not include the costs of— 

21 ‘‘(I) investigation and identifica22 tion of the extent of contamination; 

23 ‘‘(II) design and performance of 

24 a response action; or 


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1 ‘‘(III) monitoring of a natural re2 source.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PUBLICLY OWNED 

4 BROWNFIELD SITES. 

5 Section 104(k)(2) of the Comprehensive Environ6 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

7 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)(2)) is amended by adding at the 

8 end the following: 

9 ‘‘(C) EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN PUBLICLY

10 OWNED BROWNFIELD SITES.—Notwithstanding 

11 any other provision of law, an eligible entity 

12 that is a governmental entity may receive a 

13 grant under this paragraph for property ac14 quired by that governmental entity prior to 

15 January 11, 2002, even if the governmental en16 tity does not qualify as a bona fide prospective 

17 purchaser (as that term is defined in section 

18 101(40)), so long as the eligible entity has not 

19 caused or contributed to a release or threatened 

20 release of a hazardous substance at the prop21 erty.’’. 

22 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 Paragraph (13) of section 104(k) of the Comprehen24 sive Environmental Response, Compensation, and LiabilVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Mar 31, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1758.IH H1758

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1 ity Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)) (as redesignated by 

2 section 3(1) of this Act) is amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(13) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

5 this subsection $250,000,000 for each of the fiscal 

6 years 2017 through 2022.’’. 

7 SEC. 8. STATE RESPONSE PROGRAM FUNDING. 

8 Section 128(a)(3) of the Comprehensive Environ9 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

10 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9628(a)(3)) is amended by striking 

11 ‘‘2006’’ and inserting ‘‘2022’’. 

Æ 


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