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

January 8, 2003

Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California (for himself, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. LEACH, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. SOUDER, Ms. HART, and Mr. PLATTS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

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) PURPOSES- 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 cleanup and development 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 environmental cleanup and development of brownfield sites, which shall include mine-scarred lands.

`(b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS- Amounts from grants under this section shall--

`(1) be used, as provided in subsection (a) of this section, only for activities specified in section 108(a); and

`(2) 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.

`(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) 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 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008.'.

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

(a) TECHNICAL CORRECTION- The penultimate proviso of the first undesignated paragraph of the item relating to `Community Development Block Grants Fund' in title II of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 (Public Law 104-204; 110 Stat. 2887) shall be treated as having amended section 105(a) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5305(a)) to read as such section was in effect on September 30, 1995.

(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), by striking `and' at the end;

(2) in paragraph (25), by striking the period at the end and inserting `; and'; and

(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

`(26) environmental cleanup and economic development activities related to brownfield projects in conjunction with the appropriate environmental regulatory agencies.'.

SEC. 5. PILOT PROGRAM FOR NATIONAL REDEVELOPMENT OF BROWNFIELDS.

Section 108(q) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5308(q)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

`(5) PILOT PROGRAM FOR NATIONAL REDEVELOPMENT OF BROWNFIELDS-

`(A) IN GENERAL- Using any amounts made available under this subsection, the Secretary may establish a pilot program under which grants under this subsection are used to develop, maintain, and administer (including the payment of an entity or entities selected pursuant to subparagraph (B)) a common loan pool of development loans for brownfield redevelopment projects made on behalf of eligible public entities with the proceeds of obligations guaranteed under this section, including related security and a common loans loss reserve account, for the benefit of participants in the pilot program.

`(B) SELECTION OF PROGRAM MANAGERS AND CONTRACTORS- The Secretary may select an entity or entities on a competitive or noncompetitive basis to carry out any of the functions involved in the pilot program.

`(C) TERMS FOR PARTICIPATION- Participation by eligible public entities in the pilot program shall be under such terms and conditions as the Secretary may require.

`(D) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary--

`(i) for grants under this subsection to be used only in conjunction with the pilot program under this paragraph; and

`(ii) for costs of carrying out the pilot program under this paragraph and ensuring that the program is carried out in an effective, efficient, and viable manner.'.

SEC. 6. 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. 7. APPLICABILITY.

The amendments made by this Act shall apply only with respect to amounts made available for fiscal year 2004 and fiscal years thereafter for use under the provisions of law amended by this Act.

END