I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 996

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit the issuance of

tax-exempt bonds to finance environmental remediation of contaminated sites.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 6, 1997

Mr. WELLER (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. CRANE, Mr. RUSH, Mr. FAWELL, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr.

ENGLISH of Pennsylvania Mr. BLAGOJEVICH, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. DAVIS of

Illinois, Mr. COSTELLO, and Mr. EVANS) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit

the issuance of tax-exempt bonds to finance environmental remediation of contaminated 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. TAX-EXEMPT FINANCING OF ENVIRONMENTAL

4 REMEDIATION OF QUALIFIED CONTAMI5 NATED SITES.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (e) of section 141 of

7 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (defining qualified
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1 bond) is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara2 graph (F), by redesignating subparagraph (G) as subpara3 graph (H), and by inserting after subparagraph (F) the

4 following new subparagraph:

5 ‘‘(G) a qualified contaminated site remedi6 ation bond, or’’.

7 (b) QUALIFIED CONTAMINATED SITE REMEDIATION

8 BOND.—Section 144 of such Code is amended by adding

9 at the end thereof the following new subsection:

10 ‘‘(d) QUALIFIED CONTAMINATED SITE REMEDIATION

11 BOND.—For purposes of this part—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified con13 taminated site remediation bond’ means any bond is14 sued as part of an issue 95 percent or more of the

15 proceeds of which are to finance—

16 ‘‘(A) the acquisition of a qualified contami17 nated site, or

18 ‘‘(B) the costs of environmental remedi19 ation with respect to such a site which is owned

20 by the person incurring such costs.

21 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Such term shall not

23 include any bond issued to provide financing

24 with respect to a qualified contaminated site

25 if—
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1 ‘‘(i) any amount of such financing is

2 provided directly or indirectly to any ineli3 gible person,

4 ‘‘(ii) less than 60 percent of the

5 amount of the financing so provided with

6 respect to such site is for costs described

7 in paragraph (1)(B), or

8 ‘‘(iii) the amount of the financing so

9 provided to acquire such site exceeds the

10 excess of—

11 ‘‘(I) the fair market value of the

12 site after the completion of the envi13 ronmental remediation, over

14 ‘‘(II) the amount of the financing

15 so provided with respect to such site

16 for costs described in paragraph

17 (1)(B).

18 ‘‘(B) INELIGIBLE PERSON.—For purposes

19 of subparagraph (A), a person is an ineligible

20 person with respect to any site if—

21 ‘‘(i) at any time on or before the date

22 of the enactment of this subsection such

23 person was the owner or operator of any

24 business on such site,
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1 ‘‘(ii) at any time before, on, or after

2 such date of enactment such person—

3 ‘‘(I) had (by contract, agreement,

4 or otherwise) arranged for the dis5 posal or treatment of any hazardous

6 materials at such site or arranged

7 with a transporter for transport for

8 disposal or treatment of any hazard9 ous materials at such site, or

10 ‘‘(II) had accepted any hazardous

11 materials for transport to such site, or

12 ‘‘(iii) the person is related to any per13 son referred to in clause (i) or (ii).

14 ‘‘(C) RELATED PERSON.—For purposes of

15 this paragraph, persons shall be treated as re16 lated to each other if such persons are treated

17 as a single employer under the regulations pre18 scribed under section 52(b) or such persons

19 bear a relationship to each other specified in

20 section 267(b) or 707(b).

21 ‘‘(3) RESTRICTION ON LAND ACQUISITION NOT

22 TO APPLY.—Section 147(c) shall not apply to any

23 qualified contaminated site remediation bond.

24 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED CONTAMINATED SITE.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this

2 subsection, the term ‘qualified contaminated

3 site’ means any site if the appropriate agency

4 certifies that at least 1 of the following environ5 mental conditions is present on such site:

6 ‘‘(i) A release or threatened release of

7 any hazardous, toxic, or dangerous sub8 stance.

9 ‘‘(ii) Any storage tanks which contain

10 any hazardous, toxic, or dangerous sub11 stance.

12 ‘‘(iii) Any illegal disposal of solid

13 waste.

14 Such term shall not include any site listed on

15 the National Priorities List under the Com16 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensa17 tion, and Liability Act of 1980.

18 ‘‘(B) APPROPRIATE AGENCY.—For pur19 poses of subparagraph (A), the appropriate

20 agency is—

21 ‘‘(i) the agency of the State in which

22 the site is located which is designated by

23 the Administrator of the Environmental

24 Protection Agency for purposes of this

25 paragraph, or
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1 ‘‘(ii) if the agency described in clause

2 (i) designates an agency of the local gov3 ernment in which the site is located for

4 purposes of this paragraph, such local gov5 ernment agency.

6 ‘‘(5) HAZARDOUS, TOXIC, OR DANGEROUS SUB7 STANCE.—For purposes of this subsection, any sub8 stance, waste, or material shall be treated as a haz9 ardous, toxic, or dangerous substance if it is so

10 treated under—

11 ‘‘(A) the Comprehensive Environmental

12 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of

13 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.),

14 ‘‘(B) the Resource Conservation and Re15 covery Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), or

16 ‘‘(C) any State or local environmental law

17 or ordinance.

18 The following materials shall in any event be treated

19 as such a substance: petroleum or crude oil or any

20 derivative thereof, friable asbestos or any asbestos

21 containing material, polychlorinated biphenyls, or

22 urea formaldehyde foam insulation.

23 ‘‘(6) ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION.—For

24 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘environmental

25 remediation’ means—
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1 ‘‘(A) removal or remediation activity, in2 cluding soil and ground water remediation,

3 ‘‘(B) restoration of natural, historic, or

4 cultural resources at the site or the mitigation

5 of unavoidable losses of such resources incurred

6 in connection with the remediation or response

7 activity,

8 ‘‘(C) health assessments or health effects

9 studies,

10 ‘‘(D) environmental investigations,

11 ‘‘(E) remediation of off-site contamination

12 caused by activity on the site, and

13 ‘‘(F) any other costs reasonably required

14 by reason of the environmental conditions of the

15 site including demolition of existing contami16 nated structures, site security, and permit fees

17 necessary for remediation.’’

18 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—

19 (1) The section heading for section 144 of such

20 Code is amended by inserting before the period ‘‘;

21 QUALIFIED CONTAMINATED SITE REMEDI22 ATION BOND’’.

23 (2) The table of sections for subpart A of part

24 IV of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code is

25 amended by inserting before the period at the end
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1 of the item relating to section 144 ‘‘; qualified con2 taminated site remediation bond’’.

3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

4 this section shall apply to bonds issued after the date of

5 the enactment of this Act.

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