I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 2919
To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act of 1980 to provide for the development and use of
brownfields, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 31, 1996
Mr. QUINN (for himself, Mr. MCHALE, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Mr.
MEEHAN, and Mr. BLUTE) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committees
on Transportation and Infrastructure and Ways and Means, for a period
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
A BILL
To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com-
pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to provide for the
development and use of brownfields, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Brownfields Remedi-
ation and Economic Development Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that:
(1) The General Accounting Office has esti-
mated that between 130,000 and 425,000 aban-
doned industrial sites will need cleanup action to be-
come economically viable once again.
(2) The cleanup costs to remediate these
‘‘brownfield’’ sites to productive use could reach
hundreds of billions of dollars.
(3) ‘‘Brownfields’’ remediation is the number
one economic priority in many American cities.
(4) Encouraging private investment for these
remediation efforts presents an opportunity to create
jobs and promote economic development in localities
and the States.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab-
lish a program under which the Federal Government, in
cooperation with appropriate State and local entities, shall
remediate ‘‘brownfields’’ in order to return them to pro-
ductive use while conserving prime open space, or ‘‘green-
fields’’.
SEC. 3. FOR EPA CERTIFICATION OF STATE BROWNFIELD
PROGRAMS.
(a) CERTIFICATION.—The Administrator of the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency (hereinafter in this Act re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall certify any State
brownfield program submitted to the Administrator under
this Act that satisfies the criteria of section 4. Certifi-
cation of State programs shall be granted only for pro-
grams which have jurisdiction over brownfield sites which
have been contaminated prior to enactment of this Act.
(b) REVIEW.—The Administrator shall review cer-
tified State brownfield programs every 2 years after cer-
tification to assure compliance with certification criteria,
and to provide to the States, where appropriate, technical
assistance and expertise.
SEC. 4. EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR STATE BROWNFIELDS
PROGRAMS.
A State brownfields program may be certified under
this Act if the program—
(1) covers only contaminated sites that are not
listed on the National Priorities List;
(2) provides for public participation, in good
faith prior to the granting of a release from liability
under sections 4 and 5;
(3) provides for the reopening of a brownfields
cleanup proposal:
(A) if any person has undertaken any as-
pect of the site assessment or remediation in a
fraudulent manner, including misrepresentation
of such person’s relationship to the site;
(B) if a State changes remediation stand-
ards by an order of magnitude;
(C) if a landowner or prospective pur-
chaser of a brownfield site wishes to change the
proposed use of a site to one that demands a
higher cleanup standard; or
(D) if the proposed remediation fails or the
remedy is not properly maintained or operated;
and
(4) contains cleanup standards for brownfield
sites that are protective of public health and the en-
vironment; and
(5) includes coordination among State agencies
for environmental protection and business/economic
development.
SEC. 5. LANDOWNER LIABILITY.
In the case of any brownfield site remediation carried
out pursuant to a State program certified under this Act,
upon completion of remediation pursuant to such program
and release from State liability under any applicable State
provisions regarding liability for contaminated sites, the
Administrator shall release the owner of the brownfield
site or the facility operator at such site, or both, from li-
ability under sections 106 and 107 of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
of 1980 for the contamination described in the site assess-
ment and evaluation carried out under the State program
at the site concerned.
SEC. 6. OTHER LIABILITY RELEASES.
In the case of any brownfield site remediation carried
out pursuant to a State program certified under this Act,
upon completion of remediation pursuant to such program
and release from State liability under any applicable State
provisions regarding liability for contaminated sites, the
Administrator shall release the following persons from li-
ability under sections 106 and 107 of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
of 1980 for the contamination described in the site assess-
ment and evaluation carried out under the State program
at the site concerned:
(1) LENDERS AND DEVELOPERS.—Lenders and
economic developers, except that no lender or devel-
oper shall be released from liability under sections
106 and 107 for pollution directly caused by their
actions.
(2) PROSPECTIVE
PURCHASERS.—Prospective
purchasers of a brownfields site.
(3) LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—Local governments
who have not been involved with the management of
a brownfields site.
‘‘(c) INCOME
AND
DEDUCTIONS
OF
THE
TAX-
PAYER.—
‘‘(1) INCLUSION OF AMOUNTS DISTRIBUTED.—
There shall be includible in the gross income of the
taxpayer for any taxable year—
‘‘(A) any amount distributed from the Re-
serve during such taxable year, and
‘‘(B) any deemed distribution under sub-
section (e).
‘‘(2) DEDUCTION WHEN ECONOMIC PERFORM-
ANCE OCCURS.—In addition to any deduction under
subsection (a), there shall be allowable as a deduc-
tion for any taxable year the amount of the qualified
hazardous waste costs with respect to which eco-
nomic performance (within the meaning of section
461(h)(2)) occurs during such taxable year.
‘‘(d) HAZARDOUS WASTE REMEDIATION RESERVE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘Hazardous Waste Remediation Re-
serve’ means a reserve established by the taxpayer
for purposes of this section.
‘‘(2) RESERVE EXEMPT FROM TAXATION.—Any
Hazardous Waste Remediation Reserve is exempt
from taxation under this subtitle unless such Re-
serve has ceased to be a Hazardous Waste Remedi-
ation Reserve by reason of subsection (e). Notwith-
standing the preceding sentence, any such Reserve
shall be subject to the taxes imposed by section 511
(relating to imposition of tax on unrelated business
income of charitable, etc. organizations).
‘‘(3) CONTRIBUTIONS TO RESERVE.—The Re-
serve shall not accept any payments (or other
amounts) other than payments with respect to which
a deduction is allowable under subsection (a).
‘‘(4) USE OF RESERVE.—The Reserve shall be
used exclusively to pay the qualified hazardous waste
costs of the taxpayer.
‘‘(5) PROHIBITIONS AGAINST SELF-DEALING.—
Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, for
purposes of section 4951 (and so much of this title
as relates to such section), the Reserve shall be
treated in the same manner as a trust described in
section 501(c)(21).
‘‘(e) DEEMED DISTRIBUTIONS.—
‘‘(1) DISQUALIFICATION
OF
RESERVE
FOR
SELF-DEALING.—In any case in which a Reserve vio-
lates any provision of this section or section 4951,
the Secretary may disqualify such Reserve from the
application of this section. In any case to which this
paragraph applies, the Reserve shall be treated as
having distributed all of its funds on the date such
determination takes effect.
‘‘(2) FAILURE TO SPEND FUNDS.—A Reserve
shall be treated as having distributed all of its
funds—
‘‘(A) on the date which is 10 years after
the date such Reserve was established unless,
as of such date—
‘‘(i) it has been determined that some
property of the taxpayer is contaminated
with hazardous waste, and
‘‘(ii) a remediation plan has been pre-
pared for such site, and
‘‘(B) except as otherwise provided by the
Secretary, on the date which is 10 years after
the date such Reserve was established unless,
as of such date, it is reasonably anticipated that
the remaining funds in the Reserve will be dis-
tributed before the date which is 15 years after
the date such Reserve was established.
‘‘(f) PENALTY FOR DISTRIBUTIONS NOT USED FOR
QUALIFIED HAZARDOUS WASTE COSTS.—The tax im-
posed by this chapter for any taxable year in which any
amount distributed from a Reserve is not used exclusively
to pay qualified hazardous waste costs shall be increased
by 10 percent of such amount.
‘‘(g) QUALIFIED HAZARDOUS WASTE COSTS.—For
purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified hazardous
waste costs’ means—
‘‘(1) the costs paid or incurred by the taxpayer
in connection with the assessment of—
‘‘(A) the extent of the environmental con-
tamination of a site which is owned by the tax-
payer, and
‘‘(B) the expected cost of environmental
remediation required for such site, and
‘‘(2) the costs paid or incurred by the taxpayer
to remediate such contamination.
‘‘(h) CONTROLLED GROUPS.—All persons treated as
a single employer under subsection (a) or (b) of section
52 shall be treated as one person for purposes of sub-
section (b), and the dollar amount contained in such sub-
section shall be allocated among such persons in such
manner as the Secretary shall prescribe.
‘‘(i) TIME WHEN PAYMENTS DEEMED MADE.—For
purposes of this section, a taxpayer shall be deemed to
have made a payment to the Reserve on the last day of
a taxable year if such payment is made on account of such
taxable year and is made within 21⁄2 months after the close
of such taxable year.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
for subpart C of part II of subchapter E of chapter 1 of
such Code is amended by inserting after the item relating
to section 468B the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 468C. Special rules for hazardous waste remediation re-
serves.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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