[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 128 (Thursday, August 3, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1623]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     A BROWNFIELDS CLEANUP PROGRAM

                                 ______


                         HON. ROBERT A. BORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 3, 1995
  Mr. BORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join today with the 
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Brown], the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. 
Dingell], the ranking Democratic member of the Commerce Committee, and 
the Democratic leader, Mr. Gephardt, to introduce legislation to help 
cities attract jobs by cleaning up brownfields sites.
  This initiative will bring jobs to Philadelphia and every other city 
that has been facing inflexible environmental laws.
  This bill is necessary because Superfund has become an obstacle to 
the economic redevelopment of our cities. Superfund has become a job-
killer in our Nation's cities and that has to be changed.
  Mayor Ed Rendell of Philadelphia, America's mayor, made revision of 
the Superfund brownfields program a prominent part of his new agenda 
for urban America.
  The current Superfund Program has required America's cities to fight 
the battle for jobs with one hand tied behind their backs. Cities must 
be able to attract jobs--new jobs--if they are going to be able to 
expand their tax bases and provide funds for all the other services 
that are essential in urban areas--schools, housing, transit and many 
others. Cities cannot survive without new jobs.
  In Philadelphia, the city is attempting clear away the more than 
30,000 abandoned buildings that dominate far too much of the city. They 
want to clear the lots for development but they have run into a stone 
wall because no developers want to touch land that poses the threat of 
Superfund involvement.
  Our Commissioner of Licenses and Inspections, who is in charge of 
this effort, testified before the Subcommittee on Water Resources and 
the Environment about an atmosphere of fear among prospective 
developers.
  It is clear that we must take the steps that are necessary to dispel 
the atmosphere of fear that pervades our cities.
  This bill that we are introducing today will help Philadelphia and 
all the other cities with the same problem a small measure of help by 
setting aside Superfund money to be used just for these sites.
  During the next 3 years, $45 million would be available for grants to 
cities for preliminary site characterization work and $90 million would 
be provided for loans to cities for cleanup.
  The bill also includes protection for prospective purchasers--people 
who want to buy property but may be scared away by the potential 
liability.
  Under this bill, prospective purchasers who have no connection with 
the waste disposal will be shielded from liability.
  The brownfields problem has a major impact on communities across the 
country. Experts have estimated as many as 500,000 contaminated sites 
that could be available for productive industrial development if the 
liability issue was settled.
  EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner has done a good job moving this 
program in the right direction with her brownfields action agenda, 
especially removing 25,000 sites from the CERCLIS list.
  That removal eliminates the taint of a Superfund listing from sites 
that don't belong on a Superfund list.
  More must be done legislatively to focus attention on the brownfields 
problem.
  As the ranking Democratic member on the Water Resources and 
Environment Subcommittee, I am prepared to offer this bill during the 
Superfund debate in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.