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Published: 2001

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Congress has before it numerous bills to expand the Environmental Protection Agencyâ€TMs (EPA) brownfields program to help communities restore less seriously contaminated sites that have the potential for economic development. EPA defines brownfields as abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. A combination of potential environmental, economic and social benefits gives this program broad support among governments, environmentalists, developers, and communities. The brownfields program was established administratively by EPA under the aegis of the Superfund program; without explicit authority for it in the law, it has been financed by the Superfund appropriation. The program has expanded to include 363 brownfields assessment grants (most for $200,000 over 2 years); 106 $350,000 revolving loan fund grants to help finance the actual cleanups; 47 job training grants; and 28 Brownfields Showcase Communities where technical and financial assistance from 20 participating federal agencies is being coordinated with state, local and nongovernmental efforts. FY1997 was the first year brownfields became a separate budgetary line item, at $37.7 million. For FY2000 the appropriation was $91.7 million. In the FY2001 budget, the Administration requested and was appropriated $91.6 million. The 106th Congress extended the brownfields cleanup tax incentive to December 31, 2003, and expanded it to make all brownfields certified by a state environmental agency eligible for the tax break. Other brownfield bills introduced in the 106th Congress appeared to confirm the general direction EPA has taken. Two Superfund reauthorization bills were reported in the House, each of which contained a title on brownfields. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee reported H.R. 1300 on September 30, 1999 (H.Rept. 106-353, Part I), and the Commerce Committee ordered H.R. 2580 reported on October 13, 1999 (H.Rept. 106-775, part I). Negotiations on S. 1090 in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee did not produce an acceptable bipartisan compromise and the committee agreed to end their deliberations on August 4, 1999. This report provides the history, background, and operations of the brownfields program and briefly reviews its current status. For regularly updated information on legislative activity, see CRS Issue Brief IB10011, Superfund Reauthorization Issues in the 106th Congress.