[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 87 (Thursday, June 29, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6804-S6805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LEVIN (for himself, Mrs. Dole, Mr. Reed, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. 
        Voinovich, and Mr. Martinez):
  S. 3620. A bill to facilitate the provision of assistance by the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development for the cleanup and 
economic redevelopment of brownfields; to the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, today I introduced the Brownfields 
Redevelopment Enhancement Act of 2006 with Senators Dole, Reed, 
Jeffords, Voinovich, and Martinez. This bill would allow the U.S. 
Department of Housing and Urban Development to assist communities in 
transforming idle brownfield sites into productive uses. Brownfields 
are abandoned or underused industrial and commercial properties where 
redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental 
contamination. More than 450,000 of these sites taint our Nation and 
limit the economic growth of communities. Brownfields redevelopment can 
provide new opportunities for businesses, housing, and recreational 
spaces such as urban parks.
  Brownfields redevelopment is a fiscally sound way to bring investment 
back to neglected neighborhoods, clean up the environment and maximize 
use of existing infrastructure. My home State of Michigan has benefited 
from hundreds of brownfields redevelopment projects, and this bill 
would help to ensure that federal tools are in place to continue with 
these successes in Michigan and throughout the Nation.
  The Brownfields Redevelopment Enhancement Act would provide the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development with new tools to spur 
brownfields redevelopment. This bill would provide local governments 
with increased accessibility to HUD's Brownfields Economic Development 
Initiative grants by allowing HUD to make brownfields grants without 
requiring that communities pledge their future community development 
block grant funds as collateral. Removing this restriction from the HUD 
Brownfields Economic Development Initiative program would allow many 
more communities, especially smaller communities, to participate in the 
program. The bill also adopts the definition of brownfields used by the 
EPA, which would bring greater consistency and clarity to the federal 
government's brownfields programs.
  The bill authorizes $50 million annually for this important Federal 
program, which provides funding for a wide variety of brownfield 
redevelopment activities--from site remediation to construction. 
Supporters of this bill include the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the 
National Association of Home Builders, the National Association of 
Industrial and Office Properties, the Real Estate Roundtable, the 
National Association of Development Organizations, the Northeast-
Midwest Institute, the National Association of Local Government 
Environmental Professionals, the Associated General Contractors of 
America, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, and 
the Environmental Bankers Association.
  I want to thank my Senate colleagues for working with me on this 
bill, and I want to especially thank Jack Reed who played a key role in 
the early drafting of the bill.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3620

       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) 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;
       (2) 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
       (3) by providing grants for the economic development of 
     brownfield sites independent from section 108 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 units 
     of general local government and Indian tribes with increased 
     accessibility to brownfields redevelopment funds by 
     permitting the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to 
     make grants for brownfields development independent from 
     section 108 loan guarantees.

     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 105(a) in 
     connection with a brownfield site;
       ``(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 
     subsection shall be in the form and in accordance with the 
     procedures established by the Secretary.
       ``(e) Selection Criteria.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish criteria 
     for awarding assistance under this subsection.
       ``(2) Criteria.--The criteria established under paragraph 
     (1) shall include--
       ``(A) the extent of need for such assistance;
       ``(B) the level of distress in the community to be served 
     and in the jurisdiction applying for assistance;
       ``(C) the quality of the plan proposed and the capacity or 
     potential capacity of the applicant to successfully carry out 
     the plan; and
       ``(D) such other factors as the Secretary determines to be 
     appropriate.
       ``(f) Definition of Brownfield Site.--For purposes of this 
     section, the term `brownfield site'--
       ``(1) 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)); and
       ``(2) 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 
     $50,000,000, for each of fiscal years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 
     and 2011.''.

     SEC. 4. 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. 5. APPLICABILITY.

       The amendments made by this Act shall apply only with 
     respect to amounts made available for fiscal year 2007 and 
     fiscal years thereafter for use under the provisions of law 
     amended by this Act.
  Mrs. DOLE. Mr. President, across North Carolina and our Nation, many 
local communities face the challenge of what to do with blighted lands 
where factories and businesses once thrived. Though abandoned, these 
sites still hold great promise for prosperity. In fact, around the 
country, deserted, contaminated industrial facilities, called 
brownfields, are being reclaimed, cleaned up and redeveloped. 
Communities are partnering with the private sector and State and 
Federal agencies to turn brownfields into productive sites that promote 
economic growth and job creation.

[[Page S6805]]

  With nearly 1 million brownfields remaining in the United States, we 
need to strengthen these important public-private partnerships. That is 
why I am very pleased to introduce the Brownfields Redevelopment 
Enhancement Act with my colleagues, Senators Martinez, Levin, Reed, 
Voinovich, and Jeffords. This legislation will enable more local 
communities to use grant funding from the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development's Brownfields Economic Development Initiative, BEDI, 
program to literally unearth opportunity.
  For several years, HUD has provided more than $200 million to local 
governments in BEDI grants of up to $3 million to support demolition, 
site clearance, site preparation, infrastructure upgrades, and 
redevelopment activities that are needed to transform brownfields into 
productive sites once again. This HUD support for brownfields projects 
is critical because redevelopment requires more than the environmental 
assessment and cleanup funding that is provided by the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency.
  BEDI grants generate tremendous private investment in brownfields 
redevelopment. In fact, every dollar in BEDI grant funding generates 10 
dollars in private sector support for brownfields projects. Still, 
these funds could be provided in a much more effective way. Currently 
BEDI grants are available only if they are coupled with HUD section 108 
loan guarantees, typically in a high loan-to-grant ratio. These section 
108 loans must be backed and collateralized by the local government's 
future allocations of HUD community development block grant, CDBG, 
funds. This requirement is unworkable for many communities. For smaller 
localities that do not have an entitlement to CDBG funds, BEDI funds 
are very difficult to obtain. And larger CDBG entitlement communities 
also have great difficulty in obtaining BEDI funding, either because 
they have reached their allowable CDBG borrowing limit or because the 
demand for scarce CDBG funding is so great.
  The legislation we introduce today would amend the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1974 by untying the BEDI program from the 
requirement to obtain Section 108 loans, thus making BEDI funding more 
accessible for communities large and small. The legislation also would 
authorize $50 million in annual HUD grant funding for brownfields 
projects.
  Communities around the country, including many in my home State of 
North Carolina, would benefit tremendously from this adjustment in BEDI 
grant requirements. For example, Wilson, N.C. wants to clean up and 
redevelop 30 acres of vacant tobacco warehouses in the downtown 
district. But because Wilson is not a CDBG entitlement community, these 
BEDI funds currently are unattainable under the section 108 
requirement. And in Winston-Salem, city leaders seek to make a corridor 
of underutilized brownfield land into part of the Piedmont Triad 
Research Park, a global center for life science and medical technology. 
Winston-Salem, though a CDBG entitlement city, cannot access any 
additional BEDI funding because the city is nearing its CDBG debt 
guarantee limit. The legislation we propose today would remove these 
barriers for places like Wilson and Winston-Salem and enable our 
communities to turn great visions for economic development into 
reality.
  The House of Representatives has already approved a similar measure 
to spur brownfields cleanup, and this legislation is broadly supported 
by many localities and private sector organizations, including the U.S. 
Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Development 
Organizations, the National Association of Local Government 
Environmental Professionals, the National Association of Homebuilders, 
the Associated General Contractors of America, the National Association 
of Industrial and Office Properties, the National Brownfield 
Association, the Real Estate Roundtable, the National Association of 
Real Estate Investment Trusts, and North Carolina-based Cherokee 
Investment Partners.
  With such strong support--in Congress and in communities across the 
Nation--for this improvement to the BEDI program, I urge the Senate to 
act swiftly on this legislation. Brownfields revitalization projects 
are models of successful public-private partnering, and we at the 
Federal level must do our part to encourage and enable these endeavors 
to continue.
                                 ______