The House Financial Services Committee approved H.R. 2941, the Brownfields Redevelopment Enhancement Act, on April 11. This proposed legislation, introduced by Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.), would facilitate the provision of assistance by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) for the cleanup and economic redevelopment of brownfields sites. The committee approved the bill by voice vote, and it will now head to the House floor.
H.R. 2941 provides money to local governments through HUD for the redevelopment of brownfields sites, reauthorizes an existing brownfields redevelopment program at HUD, and creates a cleanup and loan guarantee program. Most importantly, the legislation would eliminate the requirement that communities pledge future Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for brownfields projects currently in place under existing law.
NACo supports H.R. 2941, and its affiliate, National Association for County Community and Economic Development, testified in support of the legislation at a hearing held last month. This legislation will provide local governments with additional resources to facilitate the redevelopment of brownfields sites, and also frees up CDBG dollars to be used for other community development activities.
H.R. 2941 builds upon brownfields legislation signed into law by President George W. Bush in January that provides money to states and local governments for the assessment and cleanup of brownfields sites through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). H.R. 2941 goes a step further by providing funds for the redevelopment and revitalization of these sites.
Similar legislation is pending in the Senate. S. 1079, the Brownfields Site Redevelopment Assistance Act, would create a grant program in the Economic Development Administration for the redevelopment of brownfields sites.
This program would attack brownfields as an economic development issue, and grants would be used for projects to alleviate or prevent conditions of excessive unemployment, underemployment, blight, and infrastructure deterioration associated with brownfields sites. It would authorize $60 million in funding through 2006 for these purposes. S. 1079 has yet to see committee action, but is scheduled for markup later this month.
