Mr. Chairman, Senator Lautenberg and other Members of the Committee, I am pleased to appear before you today to convey the Conference's support for the bipartisan brownfields proposal, the Brownfields Revitalization and Environmental Restoration Act of 2000 (S. 2700).
At the Conference's 68th Annual Meeting, which was held in Seattle earlier this month, the membership of the Conference approved a new policy statement conveying the support of the nation's mayors for S. 2700. I have attached a copy of this statement to my testimony.
Overview
I was pleased to have the opportunity to join with you today to discuss your proposed bipartisan legislation, which the mayors believe offers the best opportunity for successful legislative action in the Senate this year.
It seems that it was just the other day that I appeared before you and urged this panel to develop a bipartisan agreement. On behalf of the nation's mayors, I want to thank you for your responsiveness to our call for action.
For some time, the nation's mayors and others have pressed for a legislative response to the growing problem of brownfields. And, the Conference, speaking on behalf of the mayors, has appreciated the many opportunities to contribute to this Committee's substantial record on these issues.
In our testimonies before this Committee, the Conference has provided extensive views on the many benefits for the nation from an expanded federal policy commitment in this area. Earlier this year, I was pleased to provide the Committee with our Third Annual Brownfields Survey, "Recycling America's Land", which dramatically portrays the challenges before the nation and the vast potential for all Americans if we can successfully reclaim and redevelop these sites. We believe that this survey is just the tip of the iceberg.
I also want to underscore how pleased we are that your efforts have secured a thoughtful and balanced bipartisan package on these issues. And, S. 2700 is a bill that responds directly to the key issues that have been identified by the Conference's member mayors.
We believe the legislation before you is the right way to get started on these issues. It delivers much needed financial tools and it sets forth a policy framework that we believe will help further local and state efforts to recycle America's land. And, we believe that the time has come to enact changes in federal law to help us more effectively recycle America's land. Lets begin by reporting this legislation promptly to the full Senate, followed by full Senate action.
S. 2700
Let me talk specifically about S. 2700 and why we believe it warrants broad Senate support.
First, the legislation addresses the three key issues resources, liability relief and further clarification of state and federal roles at brownfields sites we identified in our most recent statement before this Committee. And, it does so in a manner that has garnered support from both public and private sector interests.
On Funding
· It provides communities with considerable flexibility in securing resources for both assessments and cleanup activities, allowing communities to seek site-specific resources or to support continuing local programs;
· It provides authority to access both grants and loan capitalization funds to meet varying conditions and status of properties within their communities;
· It provides varying means for communities to seek assistance directly, or in partnership with other communities in their area or through the state;
· It provides flexibility to communities to use a portion of these resources to monitor the health of populations in affected areas and the monitoring and enforcement of institutional controls; and
· It provides communities that have previously received brownfields loan capitalization funds with the authority to deploy these prior resources under the new rules set forth in the legislation; and
· It provides assurances that the distribution of these funds will serve more urban as well as rural needs.
In addition, we believe that the funding thresholds are well conceived, as well as the criteria EPA will follow in making awards under this program.
Mr. Chairman, I would hope that the Committee would also monitor the progress of funding commitments to this program, and the success of local efforts, to ensure that the overall authorization level of $150 million meets the demand for these resources.
Liability Reforms
On the liability reforms, I want to underscore our support for your proposals to protect innocent prospective purchasers and contiguous landowners.
The investment of public resources, which we believe is appropriate and necessary, will only carry the nation so far. Liability reforms, as you have provided, are critical to our efforts to motivate the private sector developers, business owners, entrepreneurs, and others to take another look at previously-developed land or brownfields for business startups or expansions, housing and other uses. These reforms underpin our efforts to tap the private sector to help us recycle these properties.
On prospective purchasers, S. 2700 follows the basic principles that have been articulated by mayors and others in seeking needed reforms to protect innocent purchasers of these sites. This legislation clearly delineates the thresholds for granting innocent parties certain relief from Superfund liability. And, these provisions generally follow other legislative proposals that have been before this Committee and in the House.
Another area of liability relief provided in the legislation is for contiguous landowners. There is no category of landowner that is more innocent than those who has been threatened with Superfund liability due to their proximity to a contaminated site. It is essential that liability protections be extended to these parties.
Future Land Uses/Institutional Controls
I noted previously that S. 2700 provides local governments with the flexibility to use a portion of funding they receive to monitor and enforce institutional controls.
In addition, the legislation emphasizes the need for the states to maintain a public record of sites to help inform the public about the status of sites in local areas. This provision offers a means to deliver more assurances to the public that institutional controls are part of the public record.
On this provision, we would encourage you to consider prompting the state to deliver this information using contemporary technology through GIS formats on the Internet. The Conference supports such approaches, as we testified last year at the oversight hearings on TEA-21 implementation, urging that a similar approach be used by the states to show the public where TEA-21 resources are being invested. And, we would also ask that the information be formatted in a way to inform the public, rather than further stigmatizing these sites. The reuse of these properties is a very positive endeavor, and as such we should avoid stigmatizing these sites, which is one of the real challenges local areas already confront in redeveloping these sites.
State Voluntary Cleanup Programs
Finally, Mr. Chairman, let me offer some comments on provisions relating to State Response Programs.
As we testified previously, the provisions of S. 2700 respond to our recommendation that the Committee provide additional funding support to strengthen state voluntary cleanup programs and ensure that these funds further build state capacity to address brownfields sites, not just emphasizing the more contaminated NPL-caliber properties. We believe that the provisions set forth in S. 2700 requesting that states describe these efforts is responsive to our request and doesn't constitute a burden on the states.
S. 2700 also provides additional certainty for parties who conduct cleanups under state programs, one of the key areas that has been identified by mayors and those from the private sector. We believe that by including this further clarification in the statute, it should begin to allay private concerns about the role of U.S. EPA relative to state decisions.
Closing Comments
Mr. Chairman, Senator Lautenberg, and Members of the Committee, let me conclude my remarks by again reiterating our support for your efforts to act in a bipartisan way on this legislation.
The leadership of this Committee and your staff have worked hard to craft this legislative package that we believe will help move our brownfields to the next level. This legislation makes important policy reforms to accelerate the nation's progress in recycling our land. Congressional action on these important issues is long overdue.
Thank you for this opportunity to appear before you today.