SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Brownfields Redevelop-
ment Enhancement Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) returning the Nation’s brownfield sites to
productive economic use could generate more that
550,000 additional jobs and up to $2,400,000,000
in new tax revenues for cities and towns;
(2) redevelopment of brownfield sites and reuse
of infrastructure at such sites will protect natural
resources and open spaces;
(3) lack of funding for redevelopment is a pri-
mary obstacle impeding the reuse of brownfield sites;
(4) the Department of Housing and Urban De-
velopment is the agency of the Federal Government
that is principally responsible for supporting commu-
nity development and encouraging productive land
use in urban areas of the United States;
(5) grants under the Brownfields Economic De-
velopment Initiative of the Department of Housing
and Urban Development provide local governments
with a flexible source of funding to pursue
brownfields redevelopment through land acquisition,
site preparation, economic development, and other
activities;
(6) to be eligible for such grant funds, a com-
munity must be willing to pledge community devel-
opment block grant funds as partial collateral for a
loan guarantee under section 108 of the Housing
and Community Development Act of 1974, and this
requirement is a barrier to many local communities
that are unable or unwilling to pledge such block
grant funds as collateral; and
(7) by de-linking grants for brownfields develop-
ment from section 108 community development loan
guarantees and the related pledge of community de-
velopment block grant funds, more communities will
have access to funding for redevelopment of
brownfield sites.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purpose of this Act is to provide
cities and towns with more flexibility for brownfields devel-
opment, increased accessibility to brownfields redevelop-
ment funds, and greater capacity to coordinate and col-
laborate with other government agencies—
(1) by providing additional incentives to invest
in the cleanup and development of brownfield sites;
and
(2) by de-linking grants for brownfields develop-
ment from community development loan guarantees
and the related pledge of community development
block grant funds.
SEC. 3. BROWNFIELDS DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE.
Title I of the Housing and Community Development
Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 123. BROWNFIELDS DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make grants
under this section, on a competitive basis as specified in
section 102 of the Department of Housing and Urban De-
velopment Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3545), only to
eligible public entities (as such term is defined in section
108(o) of this title) and Indian tribes for carrying out
projects and activities to assist the environmental cleanup
and development of brownfield sites, which shall include
mine-scarred lands.
‘‘(b) USE
OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Amounts from
grants under this section shall—
‘‘(1) be used, as provided in subsection (a) of
this section, only for activities specified in section
108(a); and
‘‘(2) be subject to the same requirements that,
under section 101(c) and paragraphs (2) and (3) of
section 104(b), apply to grants under section 106.
‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary
shall not require, for eligibility for a grant under this sec-
tion, that such grant amounts be used only in connection
or conjunction with projects and activities assisted with
a loan guaranteed under section 108.
‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—Applications for assistance
under this section shall be in the form and in accordance
with procedures as shall be established by the Secretary.
‘‘(e) SELECTION CRITERIA AND LEVERAGING.—The
Secretary shall establish criteria for awarding grants
under this section, which may include the extent to which
the applicant has obtained other Federal, State, local, or
private funds for the projects and activities to be assisted
with grant amounts and such other criteria as the Sec-
retary considers appropriate. Such criteria shall include
consideration of the appropriateness of the extent of finan-
cial leveraging involved in the projects and activities to
be funded with the grant amounts.
‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this
section such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal
years 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.’’.
SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOP-
MENT AS ELIGIBLE CDBG ACTIVITY.
(a) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—The penultimate pro-
viso of the first undesignated paragraph of the item relat-
ing to ‘‘Community Development Block Grants Fund’’ in
title II of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Hous-
ing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies
Appropriations Act, 1997 (Public Law 104–204; 110 Stat.
2887) shall be treated as having amended section 105(a)
of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974
(42 U.S.C. 5305(a)) to read as such section was in effect
on September 30, 1995.
(b) BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.—
Section 105(a) of the Housing and Community Develop-
ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5305(a)), as in effect pursu-
ant to subsection (a) of this section, is amended—
(1) in paragraph (24), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the
end;
(2) in paragraph (25), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(26) environmental cleanup and economic de-
velopment activities related to brownfield projects in
conjunction with the appropriate environmental reg-
ulatory agencies.’’.
SEC. 5. PILOT PROGRAM FOR NATIONAL REDEVELOPMENT
OF BROWNFIELDS.
Section 108(q) of the Housing and Community De-
velopment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5308(q)) is amended
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(5) PILOT PROGRAM FOR NATIONAL REDEVEL-
OPMENT OF BROWNFIELDS.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Using any amounts
made available under this subsection, the Sec-
retary may establish a pilot program under
which grants under this subsection are used to
develop, maintain, and administer (including
the payment of an entity or entities selected
pursuant to subparagraph (B)) a common loan
pool of development loans for brownfield rede-
velopment projects made on behalf of eligible
public entities with the proceeds of obligations
guaranteed under this section, including related
security and a common loans loss reserve ac-
count, for the benefit of participants in the pilot
program.
‘‘(B) SELECTION OF PROGRAM MANAGERS
AND CONTRACTORS.—The Secretary may select
an entity or entities on a competitive or non-
competitive basis to carry out any of the func-
tions involved in the pilot program.