[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 49 (Thursday, April 5, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E566-E567]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                INTRODUCTION OF BROWNFIELDS CLEAN-UP ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM J. COYNE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 4, 2001

  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation that would 
make the tax incentive for cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields 
permanent. Mr. Weller, who has a long history of involvement on this 
issue, has cosponsored this important legislation.
  There are half a million ``brownfield'' sites around the country--old 
polluted industrial

[[Page E567]]

sites that continue to sit vacant because businesses do not want to 
deal with the environmental hazards that may exist on those sites.
  All across the country, potentially productive pieces of real estate 
lie vacant because businesses are concerned about the cost of cleaning 
up after the industries that used to operate mills and factories on 
those sites.
  If we want to bring jobs and tax revenues back to those sites, we 
have to create an even playing field for businesses making decisions 
about where to locate their new facilities.
  I worked with other Representatives and Senators to provide federal 
tax support for cleaning up and re-using brownfield sites. In 1997, we 
succeeded in adding a provision to the federal tax code which allowed 
taxpayers to expense the costs of environmental remediation of 
brownfield sites in certain economically distressed areas. Last year, I 
worked successfully with Congressman Weller and several colleagues to 
extend the provision, which was scheduled to sunset at the end of 2000, 
and to apply it to brownfield sites anywhere in the country.
  I believe that one additional change should be made to the 
brownfields tax provision. I think that Congress should make the 
brownfields provision a permanent part of the federal tax code. 
Consequently, I have introduced legislation today to make the 
brownfields expensing provision permanent. I urge my colleagues to join 
me in supporting this legislation.

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