vironment, and can be satisfactorily remediated ex-
peditiously with little government oversight;
(4) promoting the assessment, cleanup, and re-
development of contaminated sites could lead to sig-
nificant environmental and economic benefits, par-
ticularly in any case in which a cleanup can be com-
pleted quickly and during a period of time that
meets short-term business needs;
(5) the private market demand for sites af-
fected by environmental contamination frequently is
reduced, often because of uncertainties regarding li-
ability or potential cleanup costs of innocent land-
owners and prospective purchasers under Federal
law;
(6) the abandonment or underutilization of
brownfield sites impairs the ability of the Federal
Government and the governments of States and po-
litical subdivisions of States to provide economic op-
portunities for the people of the United States, par-
ticularly the unemployed and economically disadvan-
taged;
(7) the abandonment or underuse of brownfield
sites also results in the inefficient use of public fa-
cilities and services, as well as land and other natu-
ral resources, and extends conditions of blight in
local communities;
(8) cooperation among Federal agencies, de-
partments and agencies of States and political sub-
divisions of States, local community development or-
ganizations, and current owners and prospective
purchasers of brownfield sites is required to accom-
plish timely response actions and the redevelopment
or reuse of brownfield sites;
(9) there is a need to provide financial incen-
tives and assistance to inventory and assess certain
brownfield sites and facilitate the cleanup of the
sites so that the sites may be redeveloped for bene-
ficial uses; and
(10) there is a need for a program to—
(A) encourage cleanups of brownfield sites;
and
(B) facilitate the establishment and en-
hancement of programs by States and local gov-
ernments to foster cleanups of brownfield sites
through capitalization of loan programs.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to cre-
ate new business and employment opportunities through
the economic redevelopment of brownfield sites that gen-
erally do not pose a serious threat to human health or
the environment and to stimulate the assessment and
cleanup of brownfield sites by—
(1) encouraging States and local governments
to provide for the assessment and cleanup of
brownfield sites that may not be remediated under
other environmental laws (including regulations) in
effect on the date of enactment of this Act;
(2) encouraging local governments and private
parties, including local community development or-
ganizations, to participate in programs, such as
State cleanup programs, that facilitate expedited re-
sponse actions that are consistent with business
needs at brownfield sites;
(3) directing the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency to establish programs that
provide financial assistance to—
(A) facilitate site assessments of certain
brownfield sites;
(B) encourage cleanup of appropriate
brownfield sites through capitalization of loan
programs; and
(C) encourage workforce development in
areas adversely affected by contaminated prop-
erties; and