[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 644 Referred in Senate (RFS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 644


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 28, 2007

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To facilitate the provision of assistance by the Department of Housing 
  and Urban Development for the cleanup and economic redevelopment of 
                              brownfields.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Brownfields Redevelopment 
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 than 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 primary obstacle 
        impeding the reuse of brownfield sites;
            (4) the Department of Housing and Urban Development is the 
        agency of the Federal Government that is principally 
        responsible for supporting community development and 
        encouraging productive land use in urban areas of the United 
        States;
            (5) grants under the Brownfields Economic Development 
        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 community must 
        be willing to pledge community development 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 development from 
        section 108 community development loan guarantees and the 
        related pledge of community development block grant funds, more 
        communities will have access to funding for redevelopment of 
        brownfield sites.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide cities and 
towns with more flexibility for brownfields development, increased 
accessibility to brownfields redevelopment funds, and greater capacity 
to coordinate and collaborate with other government agencies--
            (1) by providing additional incentives to invest in the 
        development and redevelopment of brownfield sites; and
            (2) by de-linking grants for brownfields development 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 adding 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 Development 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 development and redevelopment of 
brownfield sites, which shall include mine-scarred lands.
    ``(b) Use of Grant Amounts.--Amounts from grants under this 
section--
            ``(1) shall be used, as provided in subsection (a) of this 
        section, only for activities specified in section 108(a);
            ``(2) shall 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; and
            ``(3) shall not be provided or used in a manner that 
        reduces the financial responsibility of any nongovernmental 
        party that is responsible or potentially responsible for 
        contamination on any real property and the provision of 
        assistance pursuant to this section shall not in any way 
        relieve any party of liability with respect to such 
        contamination, including liability for removal and remediation 
        costs.
    ``(c) Availability of Assistance.--The Secretary shall not require, 
for eligibility for a grant under this section, 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 Secretary 
considers appropriate. Such criteria shall include consideration of the 
appropriateness of the extent of financial leveraging involved in the 
projects and activities to be funded with the grant amounts.
    ``(f) Definition of Brownfield Site.--For purposes of this section, 
the term `brownfield site' has the meaning given such term in section 
101(39) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601(39)). Such term includes a site 
that meets the requirements under subparagraph (D) of such section for 
inclusion as a brownfield site for purposes of section 104(k) of such 
Act (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)).
    ``(g) 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 2008 through 2012.''.

SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT AS ELIGIBLE CDBG 
              ACTIVITY.

    (a) Technical Correction.--Subsection (a) of section 105 of the 
Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5305(a)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (24) and all that follows through 
        the end of the subsection and inserting the new paragraph (24) 
        inserted by section 2(3) of Public Law 108-146 (117 Stat. 
        1883);
            (2) by adding at the end (after the paragraph added by 
        paragraph (1) of this subsection) the new paragraph (20) added 
        by section 907(b)(1)(C) of Public Law 101-625 (104 Stat. 4388) 
        and redesignating such paragraph as paragraph (25); and
            (3) by adding at the end (after the paragraphs added by 
        paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection) the new paragraph 
        (21) added by section 1012(f)(3)) of Public Law 102-550 (106 
        Stat. 3905) and redesignating such paragraph as paragraph (26).
    (b) Brownfields Redevelopment Activities.--Section 105(a) of the 
Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5305(a)), as 
in effect pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (24) (as added by subsection (a)(1) of 
        this section), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (25) (as added by subsection (a)(2) of 
        this section), by striking the period at the end and inserting 
        a semicolon;
            (3) in paragraph (26) (as added by subsection (a)(3) of 
        this section), by striking the period at the end and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(27) economic development and redevelopment activities 
        related to projects for brownfields sites (as such term is 
        defined in section 123(f)), in conjunction with the appropriate 
        environmental regulatory agencies, except that assistance 
        pursuant to this paragraph shall not be provided in a manner 
        that reduces the financial responsibility of any 
        nongovernmental party that is responsible or potentially 
        responsible for contamination on any real property and the 
        provision of assistance pursuant to this paragraph shall not in 
        any way relieve any party of liability with respect to such 
        contamination, including liability for removal and remediation 
        costs.''.

SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT TO ALLOW USE OF CDBG FUNDS TO ADMINISTER 
              RENEWAL COMMUNITIES.

    Section 105(a)(13) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 
1974 (42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(13)) is amended by inserting ``and renewal 
communities'' after ``enterprise zones''.

SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply only with respect to 
amounts made available for fiscal year


              

2008 and fiscal years thereafter for use under the provisions of law 
amended by this Act.

            Passed the House of Representatives February 27, 2007.

            Attest:

                                            LORRAINE C. MILLER,

                                                                 Clerk.