Congress OKs $250-Million ‘Brownfield’ Cleanup

Congress on Thursday approved spending $250 million to accelerate the cleanup and redevelopment of abandoned or underused industrial or commercial sites that blemish cities and rural areas across the country.

President Bush, who promised during his campaign to fight the scourge of the “brownfields,” plans to sign the measure, which will more than double the annual federal funds available to reclaim the derelict real estate.

The measure would clear many of the potential legal hazards facing prospective developers of sites that cities and towns are desperate to rejuvenate.

There are 450,000 brownfield sites nationwide, according to the bill. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said 67,000 have been counted in California. Examples of brownfield sites include abandoned lots or deserted manufacturing plants with real or perceived environmental hazards, or long-closed gas stations with leaky storage tanks.

Passage of the legislation is “a victory for the physical health of our people and the financial health of our communities because it is a commitment to clean up toxins and revitalize the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Boxer, a co-author of the bill.

By itself, the funding will not go far to clean all the brownfield sites. But supporters of the measure say it will bring in private funds, aiding communities in their efforts to revitalize chronic eyesores.

“It’s not a lot of money, but a little bit of federal money, or any sort of public money, goes a long way to leverage private investments,” said Linda Garczynski, director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s brownfield program.

Through the years, the federal government has spent less than $400 million on brownfields, but that has leveraged total investments of $3.7 billion into the sites, she added.

Current federal spending on brownfields is about $98 million a year, so the new measure would more than double the funding available.

The measure, which passed the House and Senate on voice votes, represents a rare case in which Republicans and Democrats have embraced an environmental bill.

“Redeveloping unused and potentially hazardous brownfields infuses communities with new life--creating green spaces and economic security for future generations,” said Rep. John D. Dingell of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

“This is truly one of the most significant environmental reform measures to pass Congress in several sessions,” said Rep. Paul E. Gillmor (R-Ohio), the committee chairman.

The bill, a revision of Superfund legislation first approved in 1980, passed the Senate, 99 to 0, in April but was stalled in the House for months. Because the House made changes in its version of the bill, the Senate had to re-approve the amended legislation.

The most recent controversy involved Democrats’ concern that the bill would not guarantee prevailing wages for crews working at brownfields, as guaranteed in the underlying law. A last-minute redraft retained the wage guarantees.

The bill also gives assurances to developers that once a state approves a brownfield cleanup plan, the federal government will not take action to require additional work. Developers’ perceptions that they might be held liable by the federal government even after they comply with a state cleanup plan have deterred them from taking on such projects, Garczynski said.

In addition, the bill offers legal protections for innocent parties, such as contiguous property owners, prospective purchasers and landlords.

For the first time, the measure permits the government to use brownfield funds to clean up petroleum waste sites. The EPA estimates that there are as many as 300,000 abandoned gas stations, but the Superfund legislation forbade the use of funds for petroleum cleanup.

The House added a provision that would exempt from liability under the Superfund law small businesses that contributed less than 110 gallons or 200 pounds of hazardous waste to a contaminated site. That provision sweetened the deal for many Republicans and helped assure passage.

The plan to build a state park at the Cornfield, an abandoned Union Pacific rail yard in the heart of Los Angeles, exemplifies what public funds can do in redeveloping a brownfield site. For 10 years, the rail yard has been deserted, filled only with weeds and railroad ties. The site had been purchased by a developer who planned to build warehouses, but thanks to a new state program, the state is buying most of the land, which will become a park.

“But for the public funding, this park creation, which will transform the heart of downtown L.A., would not have happened,” said Joel Reynolds, a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council who is working on the project. “To me, that’s what brownfield legislation is all about.”