Statement of Senator Carl Levin
Committee on and Public Works
Hearing on Smart Growth Legislation
March 6, 2002
Mr. Chairman and
members of the Committee, thank you for holding today’s hearing on smart growth
issues.
It is my honor to
co-chair the Senate Smart Growth Task Force with Chairman Jeffords. We established this multi-regional
bipartisan task force in 1999 to provide Senators with a forum to consider and
coordinate efforts concerning sustainable growth patterns. The overall goal of the Task Force is to
determine and promote ways the federal government can assist states and
localities to address their own growth management issues. As part of that effort we have jointly
sponsored and supported legislation that we believed would achieve this goal. Two of these bills are the focus of today’s
hearing: The Brownfield Site Redevelopment Assistance Act of 2001 (S.1079); and
The Community Character Act (S. 975).
Mr. Chairman, under
your leadership I am hopeful that these two important community development
bills can be enacted this year. They
will provide states and communities with the tools they need to better plan for
land use and development in order to improve the quality of life of our
citizens.
Brownfields
redevelopment is one of the most important ways to revitalize cities and implement
growth management. The redevelopment of
brownfields is a fiscally-sound way to bring investment back to neglected
neighborhoods, clean up the environment, reuse infrastructure that is already
paid for and relieve development pressure on our urban fringe and farmlands.
Under this Committee’s
initiative and leadership, Congress recently took the important step of
increasing funding for brownfields clean up and providing necessary liability
relief by enacting H.R. 2869 (S.350) the Small Business Liability Protection
and Brownfield Revitalization Act. That
legislation will go a long way to help communities across the country start
cleaning up and reusing the thousands of brownfields sites that now sit idle.
With THE big
brownfields law enacted, it is tempting to think that we have solved the
brownfields problem. But states,
regional councils and local communities need financial assistance to make
brownfields redevelopment happen. One
way to do this is to give communities more tools to redevelop and promote the
economic reuse of brownfield sites once they have been cleaned.
S. 1079, the
Brownfield Site Redevelopment Assistance Act would do this. Senators Jeffords and I, along with Senators
Baucus, Reid and Lieberman introduced this bill to expand the Department of
Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) efforts to assist
communities with economic development.
The bill authorizes a program to provide targeted assistance for
projects that redevelop brownfield sites.
The bill will provide EDA with increased funding flexibility to help
States, local communities, Indian tribes and nonprofit organizations restore
these sites to productive use. The bill
authorizes $60 million each year for five years for brownfields
redevelopment. It gives EDA the
authority to provide grants for brownfields redevelopment projects, including:
-- Development of public facilities
-- Business development (including
revolving loan funds)
-- Technical assistance and Training
-- Activities
to help communities diversify their economies and encourage infill development
-- Collaborative economic development
planning
While EDA assistance
has helped communities redevelop brownfields, the agency lacks a specific
authority and a dedicated source of funding for brownfields. As a result, there is no guarantee that the
agency will be able to sustain the level of investment it has made in recent
years. The current “cap” on EDA appropriations
at the authorization level of $335 million will significantly affect the
ability of the agency to support future brownfield redevelopment
activities.
This bill would
provide EDA with the authority to facilitate effective economic development
planning for reuse; develop infrastructure necessary to prepare sites for re-entry
into the market; and, provide the capital necessary to support new business
development. It would also make
brownfields redevelopment a priority for EDA.
Our nation’s population is growing and we need to find creative ways to
accommodate growth while improving the lives of our residents and protecting
our land, air and water. With limited
Federal resources available to help communities with these important goals, it
is critical that we encourage the reuse of our land. We recycle cans, bottles and newspaper B we must also recycle our
land.
In communities
across Michigan and across the country, the prevalence of brownfields sites is
an obstacle to development. When redeveloped, these sites offer new
opportunities for businesses, housing and green space. Undeveloped brownfields sites force
expansion into green areas and open spaces, and many communities need support
in order to reuse these sites. This
bill would help to provide additional resources to communities and states to
assist their brownfields conversion efforts.
The U.S. Conference
of Mayors estimated that brownfields redevelopment could generate more than
550,000 jobs and up to $2.4 billion in new tax revenues. This legislation aims
to support local communities and states in their efforts to reclaim brownfields
by providing economic development resources to revitalize these sites.
Testimony to the
critical need for this additional brownfields redevelopment funding is the
support for the bill of the following organizations: National Association of
Counties, National Association of Towns and Townships, National League of
Cities, the United States Conference of Mayors, the Council for Urban Economic
Development; Enterprise Foundation, National Association of Business
Incubators, National Association of Development Organizations, National
Association of Installation Developers, National Association of Regional
Councils, National Congress for Community Economic Development, and Smart
Growth America.
I am pleased the
Committee is taking up this legislation.
It clearly complements the resources and liability clarifications
enacted in H.R. 2869 (S. 350). It is a
logical next step to provide communities with the financial assistance needed
to leverage private investment in brownfields and accelerate reuse.
BROWNFIELD SITE REDEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE ACT
OF 2001
SECTION-BY-SECTION
Section 1 B Short
Title
Brownfield Site Redevelopment Assistance Act of 2001
Section 2 B Purposes
To provide targeted assistance through the Department of Commerce’s
Economic Development Administration for projects that promote the redevelopment
and economic recovery of brownfield sites in order to bring new income and
private investment to distressed communities.
Section 3 B
Definitions
Defines brownfield site (same definition as in the Small Business
Liability Protection and Brownfield Revitalization Act). Permits the Secretary
of Commerce in consultation with the EPA Administrator to include other
pollutant or contaminants in the definition of brownfields. Other pollutants may include petroleum, lead
and asbestos. EDA funding can current
be used for remediation of these contaminants.
Section 4 B
Coordination
Recommends that the Secretary of Commerce coordinate brownfields
redevelopment activities with other Federal agencies, States, local
governments, consortia of local governments, Indian tribes, nonprofit
organizations and public-private partnerships.
Section 5 B Grants
for Brownfield Site Redevelopment
Makes grants available through EDA for brownfields projects that
alleviate excessive unemployment, underemployment, blight and infrastructure
deterioration. Projects include:
development of public facilities, development of public services, business
development, planning, technical assistance and training. Grants may also be made available for
activities identified by a community negatively impacted by brownfields. These activities include: diversifying the
economy; carrying out industrial or commercial redevelopment projects;
promoting smart growth through infill development that conserves environmental
and agricultural resources; and carrying out collaborative economic development
planning.
Section 6 B
Authorization of Appropriations
Authorizes $60 million for each fiscal years 2002 through 2006.