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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1479 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1479

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 2, 2015

Mr. Inhofe (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. Rounds, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Crapo, 
and Mr. Booker) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

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

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Brownfields Utilization, Investment, 
and Local Development Act of 2015'' or the ``BUILD Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPANDED ELIGIBILITY FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.

    Section 104(k)(1) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)(1)) is 
amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (G), by striking ``or'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in subparagraph (H), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(I) an organization described in section 
                501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 
                exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of that Code;
                    ``(J) a limited liability corporation in which all 
                managing members are organizations described in 
                subparagraph (I) or limited liability corporations 
                whose sole members are organizations described in 
                subparagraph (I);
                    ``(K) a limited partnership in which all general 
                partners are organizations described in subparagraph 
                (I) or limited liability corporations whose sole 
                members are organizations described in subparagraph 
                (I); or
                    ``(L) a qualified community development entity (as 
                defined in section 45D(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue 
                Code of 1986).''.

SEC. 3. MULTIPURPOSE BROWNFIELDS GRANTS.

    Section 104(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (9) and (10) 
        through (12) as paragraphs (5) through (10) and (13) through 
        (15), respectively;
            (2) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ``subject to 
        paragraphs (4) and (5)'' and inserting ``subject to paragraphs 
        (5) and (6)''; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(4) Multipurpose brownfields grants.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (D) and 
                paragraphs (5) and (6), the Administrator shall 
                establish a program to provide multipurpose grants to 
                an eligible entity based on the considerations under 
                paragraph (3)(C), to carry out inventory, 
                characterization, assessment, planning, or remediation 
                activities at 1 or more brownfield sites in a proposed 
                area.
                    ``(B) Grant amounts.--
                            ``(i) Individual grant amounts.--Each grant 
                        awarded under this paragraph shall not exceed 
                        $950,000.
                            ``(ii) Cumulative grant amounts.--The total 
                        amount of grants awarded for each fiscal year 
                        under this paragraph shall not exceed 15 
                        percent of the funds made available for the 
                        fiscal year to carry out this subsection.
                    ``(C) Criteria.--In awarding a grant under this 
                paragraph, the Administrator shall consider the extent 
                to which an eligible entity is able--
                            ``(i) to provide an overall plan for 
                        revitalization of the 1 or more brownfield 
                        sites in the proposed area in which the 
                        multipurpose grant will be used;
                            ``(ii) to demonstrate a capacity to conduct 
                        the range of eligible activities that will be 
                        funded by the multipurpose grant; and
                            ``(iii) to demonstrate that a multipurpose 
                        grant will meet the needs of the 1 or more 
                        brownfield sites in the proposed area.
                    ``(D) Condition.--As a condition of receiving a 
                grant under this paragraph, each eligible entity shall 
                expend the full amount of the grant not later than the 
                date that is 3 years after the date on which the grant 
                is awarded to the eligible entity unless the 
                Administrator, in the discretion of the Administrator, 
                provides an extension.''.

SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PUBLICLY OWNED BROWNFIELD SITES.

    Section 104(k)(2) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)(2)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) Exemption for certain publicly owned 
                brownfield sites.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
                of law, an eligible entity that is a governmental 
                entity may receive a grant under this paragraph for 
                property acquired by that governmental entity prior to 
                January 11, 2002, even if the governmental entity does 
                not qualify as a bona fide prospective purchaser (as 
                that term is defined in section 101(40)), so long as 
                the eligible entity has not caused or contributed to a 
                release or threatened release of a hazardous substance 
                at the property.''.

SEC. 5. INCREASED FUNDING FOR REMEDIATION GRANTS.

    Section 104(k)(3)(A)(ii) of the Comprehensive Environmental 
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 
9604(k)(3)(A)(ii)) is amended by striking ``$200,000 for each site to 
be remediated'' and inserting ``$500,000 for each site to be 
remediated, which limit may be waived by the Administrator, but not to 
exceed a total of $650,000 for each site, based on the anticipated 
level of contamination, size, or ownership status of the site''.

SEC. 6. ALLOWING ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS.

    Paragraph (5) of section 104(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental 
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)) 
(as redesignated by section 3(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (B)--
                    (A) in clause (i)--
                            (i) by striking subclause (III); and
                            (ii) by redesignating subclauses (IV) and 
                        (V) as subclauses (III) and (IV), respectively;
                    (B) by striking clause (ii);
                    (C) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (ii); 
                and
                    (D) in clause (ii) (as redesignated by subparagraph 
                (C)), by striking ``Notwithstanding clause (i)(IV)'' 
                and inserting ``Notwithstanding clause (i)(III)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) Administrative costs.--
                            ``(i) In general.--An eligible entity may 
                        use up to 8 percent of the amounts made 
                        available under a grant or loan under this 
                        subsection for administrative costs.
                            ``(ii) Restriction.--For purposes of clause 
                        (i), the term `administrative costs' does not 
                        include--
                                    ``(I) investigation and 
                                identification of the extent of 
                                contamination;
                                    ``(II) design and performance of a 
                                response action; or
                                    ``(III) monitoring of a natural 
                                resource.''.

SEC. 7. SMALL COMMUNITY TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

    Paragraph (7)(A) of section 104(k) of the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 
U.S.C. 9604(k)) (as redesignated by section 3(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The Administrator may provide,'' and 
        inserting the following:
                            ``(i) Definitions.--In this subparagraph:
                                    ``(I) Disadvantaged area.--The term 
                                `disadvantaged area' means an area with 
                                an annual median household income that 
                                is less than 80 percent of the State-
                                wide annual median household income, as 
                                determined by the latest available 
                                decennial census.
                                    ``(II) Small community.--The term 
                                `small community' means a community 
                                with a population of not more than 
                                15,000 individuals, as determined by 
                                the latest available decennial census.
                            ``(ii) Establishment of program.--The 
                        Administrator shall establish a program to 
                        provide grants that provide,''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) Small or disadvantaged community 
                        recipients.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--Subject to 
                                subclause (II), in carrying out the 
                                program under clause (ii), the 
                                Administrator shall use not more than 
                                $600,000 of the amounts made available 
                                to carry out this paragraph to provide 
                                grants to States that receive amounts 
                                under section 128(a) to assist small 
                                communities, Indian tribes, rural 
                                areas, or disadvantaged areas in 
                                achieving the purposes described in 
                                clause (ii).
                                    ``(II) Limitation.--Each grant 
                                awarded under subclause (I) shall be 
                                not more than $7,500.''.

SEC. 8. WATERFRONT BROWNFIELDS GRANTS.

    Section 104(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)) is amended 
by inserting after paragraph (10) (as redesignated by section 3(1)) the 
following:
            ``(11) Waterfront brownfield sites.--
                    ``(A) Definition of waterfront brownfield site.--In 
                this paragraph, the term `waterfront brownfield site' 
                means a brownfield site that is adjacent to a body of 
                water or a federally designated floodplain.
                    ``(B) Requirements.--In providing grants under this 
                subsection, the Administrator shall--
                            ``(i) take into consideration whether the 
                        brownfield site to be served by the grant is a 
                        waterfront brownfield site; and
                            ``(ii) give consideration to waterfront 
                        brownfield sites.''.

SEC. 9. CLEAN ENERGY BROWNFIELDS GRANTS.

    Section 104(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)) (as amended 
by section 8) is amended by inserting after paragraph (11) the 
following:
            ``(12) Clean energy projects at brownfield sites.--
                    ``(A) Definition of clean energy project.--In this 
                paragraph, the term `clean energy project' means--
                            ``(i) a facility that generates renewable 
                        electricity from wind, solar, or geothermal 
                        energy; and
                            ``(ii) any energy efficiency improvement 
                        project at a facility, including combined heat 
                        and power and district energy.
                    ``(B) Establishment.--The Administrator shall 
                establish a program to provide grants--
                            ``(i) to eligible entities to carry out 
                        inventory, characterization, assessment, 
                        planning, feasibility analysis, design, or 
                        remediation activities to locate a clean energy 
                        project at 1 or more brownfield sites; and
                            ``(ii) to capitalize a revolving loan fund 
                        for the purposes described in clause (i).
                    ``(C) Maximum amount.--A grant under this paragraph 
                shall not exceed $500,000.''.

SEC. 10. TARGETED FUNDING FOR STATES.

    Paragraph (15) of section 104(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental 
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)) 
(as redesignated by section 3(1)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
                    ``(C) Targeted funding.--Of the amounts made 
                available under subparagraph (A) for a fiscal year, the 
                Administrator may use not more than $2,000,000 to 
                provide grants to States for purposes authorized under 
                section 128(a), subject to the condition that each 
                State that receives a grant under this subparagraph 
                shall have used at least 50 percent of the amounts made 
                available to that State in the previous fiscal year to 
                carry out assessment and remediation activities under 
                section 128(a).''.

SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Brownfields Revitalization Funding.--Paragraph (15)(A) of 
section 104(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)) (as 
redesignated by section 3(1)) is amended by striking ``2006'' and 
inserting ``2018''.
    (b) State Response Programs.--Section 128(a)(3) of the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9628(a)(3)) is amended by striking ``2006'' and 
inserting ``2018''.
                                 <all>
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