114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1479 

AN ACT 

To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to modify provisions 

relating to 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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Brownfields Utiliza3 tion, Investment, and Local Development Act of 2015’’ or 

4 the ‘‘BUILD Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. EXPANDED ELIGIBILITY FOR NONPROFIT ORGANI6 ZATIONS. 

7 Section 104(k)(1) of the Comprehensive Environ8 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

9 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)(1)) is amended— 

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

11 the semicolon; 

12 (2) in subparagraph (H), by striking the period 

13 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

15 ‘‘(I) an organization described in section 

16 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

17 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) 

18 of that Code; 

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

20 all managing members are organizations de21 scribed in subparagraph (I) or limited liability 

22 corporations whose sole members are organiza23 tions described in subparagraph (I); 

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

25 general partners are organizations described in 

26 subparagraph (I) or limited liability corpora-
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1 tions whose sole members are organizations de2 scribed in subparagraph (I); or 

3 ‘‘(L) a qualified community development 

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

5 Internal Revenue Code of 1986).’’. 

6 SEC. 3. MULTIPURPOSE BROWNFIELDS GRANTS. 

7 Section 104(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental 

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

9 U.S.C. 9604(k)) is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 

11 (9) and (10) through (12) as paragraphs (5) 

12 through (10) and (13) through (15), respectively; 

13 (2) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘subject to 

14 paragraphs (4) and (5)’’ and inserting ‘‘subject to 

15 paragraphs (5) and (6)’’; and 

16 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(4) MULTIPURPOSE BROWNFIELDS GRANTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graph (D) and paragraphs (5) and (6), the Ad21 ministrator shall establish a program to provide 

22 multipurpose grants to an eligible entity based 

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

24 to carry out inventory, characterization, assess-
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1 ment, planning, or remediation activities at 1 or 

2 more brownfield sites in a proposed area. 

3 ‘‘(B) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 

4 ‘‘(i) INDIVIDUAL GRANT AMOUNTS.— 

5 Each grant awarded under this paragraph 

6 shall not exceed $950,000. 

7 ‘‘(ii) CUMULATIVE GRANT

8 AMOUNTS.—The total amount of grants 

9 awarded for each fiscal year under this 

10 paragraph shall not exceed 15 percent of 

11 the funds made available for the fiscal year 

12 to carry out this subsection. 

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

14 under this paragraph, the Administrator shall 

15 consider the extent to which an eligible entity is 

16 able— 

17 ‘‘(i) to provide an overall plan for re18 vitalization of the 1 or more brownfield 

19 sites in the proposed area in which the 

20 multipurpose grant will be used; 

21 ‘‘(ii) to demonstrate a capacity to con22 duct the range of eligible activities that 

23 will be funded by the multipurpose grant; 

24 and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) to demonstrate that a multipur2 pose grant will meet the needs of the 1 or 

3 more brownfield sites in the proposed area. 

4 ‘‘(D) CONDITION.—As a condition of re5 ceiving a grant under this paragraph, each eli6 gible entity shall expend the full amount of the 

7 grant not later than the date that is 3 years 

8 after the date on which the grant is awarded to 

9 the eligible entity unless the Administrator, in 

10 the discretion of the Administrator, provides an 

11 extension.’’. 

12 SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PUBLICLY OWNED 

13 BROWNFIELD SITES. 

14 Section 104(k)(2) of the Comprehensive Environ15 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

16 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)(2)) is amended by adding at the 

17 end the following: 

18 ‘‘(C) EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN PUBLICLY

19 OWNED BROWNFIELD SITES.—Notwithstanding 

20 any other provision of law, an eligible entity 

21 that is a governmental entity may receive a 

22 grant under this paragraph for property ac23 quired by that governmental entity prior to 

24 January 11, 2002, even if the governmental en25 tity does not qualify as a bona fide prospective 
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1 purchaser (as that term is defined in section 

2 101(40)), so long as the eligible entity has not 

3 caused or contributed to a release or threatened 

4 release of a hazardous substance at the prop5 erty.’’. 

6 SEC. 5. INCREASED FUNDING FOR REMEDIATION GRANTS. 

7 Section 104(k)(3)(A)(ii) of the Comprehensive Envi8 ronmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

9 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)(3)(A)(ii)) is amended by strik10 ing ‘‘$200,000 for each site to be remediated’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘$500,000 for each site to be remediated, which limit 

12 may be waived by the Administrator, but not to exceed 

13 a total of $650,000 for each site, based on the anticipated 

14 level of contamination, size, or ownership status of the 

15 site’’. 

16 SEC. 6. ALLOWING ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS FOR GRANT 

17 RECIPIENTS. 

18 Paragraph (5) of section 104(k) of the Comprehen19 sive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liabil20 ity Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)) (as redesignated by 

21 section 3(1)) is amended— 

22 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 

23 (A) in clause (i)— 

24 (i) by striking subclause (III); and 
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1 (ii) by redesignating subclauses (IV) 

2 and (V) as subclauses (III) and (IV), re3 spectively; 

4 (B) by striking clause (ii); 

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

6 (ii); and 

7 (D) in clause (ii) (as redesignated by sub8 paragraph (C)), by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding 

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

10 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 8 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— 

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. 7. SMALL COMMUNITY TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 

4 GRANTS. 

5 Paragraph (7)(A) of section 104(k) of the Com6 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 

7 Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)) (as redesig8 nated by section 3(1)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘The Administrator may pro10 vide,’’ and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara12 graph: 

13 ‘‘(I) DISADVANTAGED AREA.— 

14 The term ‘disadvantaged area’ means 

15 an area with an annual median house16 hold income that is less than 80 per17 cent of the State-wide annual median 

18 household income, as determined by 

19 the latest available decennial census. 

20 ‘‘(II) SMALL COMMUNITY.—The 

21 term ‘small community’ means a com22 munity with a population of not more 

23 than 15,000 individuals, as deter24 mined by the latest available decennial 

25 census. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) ESTABLISHMENT OF PRO2 GRAM.—The Administrator shall establish 

3 a program to provide grants that pro4 vide,’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(iii) SMALL OR DISADVANTAGED

7 COMMUNITY RECIPIENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 

9 subclause (II), in carrying out the 

10 program under clause (ii), the Admin11 istrator shall use not more than 

12 $600,000 of the amounts made avail13 able to carry out this paragraph to 

14 provide grants to States that receive 

15 amounts under section 128(a) to as16 sist small communities, Indian tribes, 

17 rural areas, or disadvantaged areas in 

18 achieving the purposes described in 

19 clause (ii). 

20 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION.—Each grant 

21 awarded under subclause (I) shall be 

22 not more than $7,500.’’. 

23 SEC. 8. WATERFRONT BROWNFIELDS GRANTS. 

24 Section 104(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental 

25 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 
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1 U.S.C. 9604(k)) is amended by inserting after paragraph 

2 (10) (as redesignated by section 3(1)) the following: 

3 ‘‘(11) WATERFRONT BROWNFIELD SITES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF WATERFRONT

5 BROWNFIELD SITE.—In this paragraph, the 

6 term ‘waterfront brownfield site’ means a 

7 brownfield site that is adjacent to a body of 

8 water or a federally designated floodplain. 

9 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—In providing 

10 grants under this subsection, the Administrator 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(i) take into consideration whether 

13 the brownfield site to be served by the 

14 grant is a waterfront brownfield site; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) give consideration to waterfront 

16 brownfield sites.’’. 

17 SEC. 9. CLEAN ENERGY BROWNFIELDS GRANTS. 

18 Section 104(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental 

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

20 U.S.C. 9604(k)) (as amended by section 8) is amended 

21 by inserting after paragraph (11) the following: 

22 ‘‘(12) CLEAN ENERGY PROJECTS AT

23 BROWNFIELD SITES.— 
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1 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF CLEAN ENERGY

2 PROJECT.—In this paragraph, the term ‘clean 

3 energy project’ means— 

4 ‘‘(i) a facility that generates renew5 able electricity from wind, solar, or geo6 thermal energy; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) any energy efficiency improve8 ment project at a facility, including com9 bined heat and power and district energy. 

10 ‘‘(B) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Adminis11 trator shall establish a program to provide 

12 grants— 

13 ‘‘(i) to eligible entities to carry out in14 ventory, characterization, assessment, 

15 planning, feasibility analysis, design, or re16 mediation activities to locate a clean en17 ergy project at 1 or more brownfield sites; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(ii) to capitalize a revolving loan 

20 fund for the purposes described in clause 

21 (i). 

22 ‘‘(C) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—A grant under 

23 this paragraph shall not exceed $500,000.’’. 
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1 SEC. 10. TARGETED FUNDING FOR STATES. 

2 Paragraph (15) of section 104(k) of the Comprehen3 sive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liabil4 ity Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)) (as redesignated by 

5 section 3(1)) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(C) TARGETED FUNDING.—Of the 

8 amounts made available under subparagraph 

9 (A) for a fiscal year, the Administrator may use 

10 not more than $2,000,000 to provide grants to 

11 States for purposes authorized under section 

12 128(a), subject to the condition that each State 

13 that receives a grant under this subparagraph 

14 shall have used at least 50 percent of the 

15 amounts made available to that State in the 

16 previous fiscal year to carry out assessment and 

17 remediation activities under section 128(a).’’. 

18 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 (a) BROWNFIELDS REVITALIZATION FUNDING.— 

20 Paragraph (15)(A) 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)) is amended by striking ‘‘2006’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘2018’’. 

25 (b) STATE RESPONSE PROGRAMS.—Section 

26 128(a)(3) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
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1 Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 

2 9628(a)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘2006’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘2018’’. 

Passed the Senate June 27, 2016. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1479 

AN ACT 

To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Reother purposes. to modify provisions relating to grants, and for sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980