To establish a program, primarily through the States and municipalities, and their agents, to facilitate the environmental assessment, cleanup, and reuse of abandoned or underutilized, potentially contaminated properties not on, or proposed for inclusion on, the National Priorities List.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Title I: Federal Support for State Voluntary Cleanup
Programs
Title II: Tax Incentive for the Assessment, Cleanup, and
Brownfields Property-Site Economic Redevelopment
Title III: Limiting Out-Year Environmental Risk Liability
Title IV: Environmental Assessment and Cleanup Research,
Development, and Deployment
Title V: Encouraging Public-Private-Community Partnerships
Title VI: Annual Program Evaluation
Brownfields Reclamation Act of 1997 - Title I: Federal Support for State Voluntary Cleanup Programs - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to facilitate and sustain State voluntary cleanup programs by: (1) encouraging State and tribal governments to formulate cleanup, redevelopment, and reuse programs that meet specified criteria; (2) encouraging State programs to assure community participation in decisions regarding brownfields properties, cleanup, redevelopment, and reuse; (3) providing funding for site inventories, inspections, and assessments and grants for the establishment of revolving funds; and (4) providing technical assistance for brownfields programs.
Defines "brownfields" as abandoned, idled, or underused industrial and commercial properties where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by environmental contamination and where conditions, constraints, or circumstances exist that may be detrimental to public health or the environment.
Title II: Tax Incentive for the Assessment, Cleanup, and Brownfields Property-Site Economic Redevelopment - Requires the Administrator to work with the Comptroller of the Currency to revise the Community Reinvestment Act Credit to include giving credit to banks that provide loans for the assessment, cleanup, or redevelopment of brownfields properties.
Declares that the purpose of the tax incentive is to encourage site reuse by permitting the deductibility of certain remediation costs.
Directs the Administrator to allocate tax incentives among States with voluntary cleanup programs.
Limits tax incentives to a maximum of 50 percent of total project costs and to no more than the difference between such costs and comparable costs for a greenfield property located at the market periphery (or a clean site within the same jurisdiction). Authorizes States to offer complementary tax incentives for property remediation and reuse.
Title III: Limiting Out-Year Environmental Risk Liability - Defines "out-year environmental risk liability" as liability regarding an environmental or public health hazard not discovered during property cleanup assessment or cleanup of a brownfields property.
Permits the Administrator to consider a prospective purchaser agreement, with respect to purchasers of brownfields properties, which releases a purchaser from liability to the United States if there are substantial benefits to the Government and the community and such purchaser satisfies other specified criteria.
Requires the Administrator to work with the private insurance industry to determine the feasibility of three basic insurance mechanisms (private, Federal, or a joint program involving shared risk) for addressing the issue of out-year environmental risk liability.
Title IV: Environmental Assessment and Cleanup Research, Development, and Deployment - Directs the Administrator to make project grants available to local technology centers and universities to research, develop, and deploy innovative property assessment, public health assessment, and cleanup technologies, procedures, and related information.
Title V: Encouraging Public-Private-Community Partnerships - Requires the Administrator to: (1) require community consultation on the extent of required cleanup in relation to ultimate reuse and reuse impact on the neighborhood and community; (2) sustain or expand Federal funding for training for property environmental assessment and cleanup and for technical assistance and research in brownfields cleanup and redevelopment strategies; and (3) assist the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry in providing technical assistance for health assessments.
Requires the Administrator to make up to 20 grants annually for job training for property assessment and cleanup. Authorizes additional appropriations to support EPA Environmental Finance Centers with respect to technical assistance and research in brownfields cleanup and redevelopment strategies.
Title VI: Annual Program Evaluation - Terminates this Act five years after enactment.
Directs the Administrator to report annually to the Congress on program activity and to report on the impact and cost-effectiveness of this Act.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to House Commerce
Referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to House Transportation and Infrastructure
Referred to House Ways and Means
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E2311)
Referred to the Subcommittee on Finance and Hazardous Materials.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
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