I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1005
To assist distressed cities with large, abandoned factories and hazardous
waste sites.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 18, 1993
Mr. SHAYS (for himself, Mr. MFUME, and Mr. SANTORUM) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Energy and
Commerce and Public Works and Transportation
A BILL
To assist distressed cities with large, abandoned factories
and hazardous waste sites.
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 ‘‘Urban Environmental
Initiative Act’’.
SEC. 2. EPA STUDIES.
(a) STUDY
OF STATE HEALTH-BASED CLEANUP
LAWS.—
(1) STUDY.—The Administrator shall conduct a
study of State laws and standards that are based on
health for the cleanup of sites at which any hazard-
ous substance was released or disposed of. In con-
ducting the study, the Administrator shall consider
reports prepared by the Association of State Terri-
torial Solid Waste Management Officials and the
Environmental Law Institute.
(2) RECOMMENDATIONS TO STATES.—As part
of the study, the Administrator shall make rec-
ommendations to the States on health-based cleanup
standards. Such recommendations shall include guid-
ance to the States on the development of health-
based standards for sites located in urban areas
which are more or less restrictive depending on the
future use of the site. Such guidance shall address
the issue of whether facilities to be used for parking
lots, warehouses, industrial parks, or other similar
purposes need to be cleaned up as extensively as
sites to be used for residential and retail purposes.
In developing the guidance, the Administrator shall
consider programs in Michigan that place different
restrictions on different kinds of development at
sites. The guidance also shall encourage States to
place restrictions on future uses of sites to those
uses which are consistent with whatever health-based
standards are applied at the sites.
(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator
shall submit to Congress a report on the study and
the recommendations to States not later than 12
months after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) STUDY
ON
STATE
PROPERTY
TRANSFER
LAWS.—
(1) STUDY.—The Administrator shall conduct a
study on property transfer laws of the States to
evaluate such laws and assess the merits of such
laws. In conducting the study, the Administrator
shall address the issue of whether such laws promote
better land management practices, whether such
laws help locate sites on which hazardous substances
have been released or disposed of, and whether such
laws provide better protection for the buyer.
(2) RECOMMENDATIONS TO STATES.—As part
of the study, the Administrator shall make rec-
ommendations to the States on property transfer
laws.
(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator
shall submit to Congress a report on the study not
later than 12 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act.
SEC. 3. EPA SUPERFUND INVENTORY DATA BASE.
(a) REQUIREMENT.—The Administrator shall estab-
lish and maintain in a computer data base a national
superfund site inventory. The data shall be available by
computer at local libraries.
(b) INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED.—The data to
be made available in the data base shall include informa-
tion on any Federal action at a site or facility at which
a hazardous substance was released or disposed of. Such
information shall indicate, at a minimum, whether the En-
vironmental Protection Agency has conducted a prelimi-
nary site evaluation with respect to each site listed in the
inventory, whether further Federal action has been deter-
mined to be warranted, and whether the site is on the Na-
tional Priorities List.
SEC. 4. SPECIAL SUPERFUND PROGRAM FOR TARGETED IN-
DUSTRIAL SITES.
(a) TARGETED SITES.—For purposes of this section,
the Administrator shall prepare a list of superfund sites
located in urban areas that would be suitable for economic
development. Such sites shall be referred to in this section
as ‘‘targeted sites’’.
(b) PILOT STUDY OF USE OF INNOVATIVE TECH-
NOLOGY.—Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall develop and
begin to carry out a pilot study of the effectiveness of in-
novative and cost effective technologies for conducting re-
sponse actions at targeted sites. The Administrator shall
include in the pilot study only those targeted sites that
are vacant and not likely to be used in the near future.
(c) COVENANT NOT TO SUE FOR SITES PURCHASED
FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.—(1) Subject to para-
graphs (2) and (3), in any case in which a person, includ-
ing a city, purchases a targeted site for the purpose of
economic development, the Administrator may provide a
covenant not to sue such person concerning any liability
to the United States under the Comprehensive Environ-
mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of
1980, including future liability, resulting from a release
or threatened release of a hazardous substance at such
site. Any such covenant not to sue shall not apply with
respect to any release or threatened release which is
caused by conduct of the person which is negligent.
(2) A covenant not to sue with respect to a site shall
not take effect under paragraph (1) unless the person en-
ters into an agreement with the Administrator to complete
remedial action at the site in accordance with the National
Contingency Plan.
(3) A covenant not to sue a person concerning future
liability to the United States under paragraph (1) shall
include an exception to the covenant that allows the Ad-
ministrator to sue such person concerning future liability
resulting from the release or threatened release that is the
subject of the covenant where such liability arises out of
conditions which are unknown at the time the Adminis-
trator enters into an agreement under paragraph (2) with
respect to completion of remedial action at the site con-
cerned.
(d) PREFERENCE
FOR CLEANUP
AT TARGETED
SITES.—In determining which sites to give priority for re-
sponse action under the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, the
Administrator shall give preference to targeted sites that
are located in the most populous areas, pose the greatest
threat to human health, and have the greatest potential
for economic development.
SEC. 5. EXPEDITED DECISIONS ON SUPERFUND SITES IN
CERTAIN DISTRESSED CITIES.
(a) RIGHT TO PETITION.—Any city within whose ju-
risdiction is located a targeted site (contained on the list
prepared pursuant to section 4(a)) may petition the Ad-
ministrator for an expedited decision on whether a tar-
geted site within the city will be placed on the National
Priorities List under the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980.