[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 112 (Friday, July 25, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1633-E1634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 2815, LEGISLATION EXPANDING AND MAKING PERMANENT THE 
              EXPENSING OF ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION COSTS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. XAVIER BECERRA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 25, 2003

  Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, I introduced bipartisan 
tax legislation with the gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Weller, and the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut, Mrs. Johnson, to expand and make 
permanent the expensing of environmental remediation costs of America's 
brownfields.
  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines brownfields as 
abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities 
where expansion, redevelopment or reuse is complicated by real or 
perceived environmental contamination. Estimates of the number of 
brownfield sites range from 500,000 to a million. In general, these 
sites face a paradox: they are generally not eligible for remediation 
funding under the Superfund program because they pose a relatively low 
public health risk while, at the same time, developers may avoid them 
because of significant cleanup costs thereby stalling economic 
development.
  The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 included a tax incentive to address 
this concern and help spur the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields 
in distressed urban and rural areas. Under the brownfields tax 
incentive, environmental cleanup costs are fully deductible in the year 
they are incurred by the developer, rather than having to be 
capitalized. This incentive has helped to bring thousands of abandoned 
and under-used industrial sites back into productive use, providing a 
foundation for neighborhood revitalization, job creation, and the 
restoration of hope in our nation's cities and distressed rural areas.

[[Page E1634]]

  Unfortunately, this provision of the tax code is set to expire at the 
end of 2003. At a minimum, Congress must extend this provision for 
several more years. A better approach, however, an approach supported 
by the Bush administration in fact, would be enactment of the Weller-
Becerra-Johnson legislation which would make this common-sense tax 
incentive a permanent part of the federal tax code. In addition, the 
bill would modify current law by amending the recapture provision and 
modestly expanding the class of substances that can be expensed to 
include petroleum, a contaminant commonly found at brownfields sites.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage all my colleagues to join me in supporting 
this legislation. Its passage will ensure the continued availability of 
this valuable tool for improving the livability and economic prospects 
of blighted, decaying communities and reclaiming idle land for more 
productive uses.

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