The nation's laws governing abandoned hazardous waste sites date back to the late 1970's and the discovery of thousand of barrels of toxic waste buried illegally in a New York community outside of Buffalo. Congress responded to Love Canal and other sites by enacting Superfund. This law was intended to cleanup the nation's worst sites and ensure that the parties responsible for the pollution cleaned it up. Litigation ensued throughout the 1980s, which slowed down the pace of cleanups. By the 1990s, Superfund cleanups increased. But the fear of prolonged entanglements in Superfund liability became an impediment to the cleanup of lightly contaminated sites, today known as brownfields.
While all parties agreed that we should remove the barriers to redeveloping brownfields, those reforms were always considered as part of broader comprehensive Superfund reform. Based on a multitude of letters and phone calls from various stakeholders, the sponsors of this legislation decided to move brownfields legislation separately and in a bipartisan manner. This is not to say that there is not merit to broader Superfund proposals. Issues such as natural resource damages need to be examined and we will look at those issues later. But it is important that we move this legislation, with broad bipartisan support, first.
As the chairman of the Senate Superfund Subcommittee, I have made of brownfields reform my top environmental priority. As one of six former mayors in the Senate, I understand the environmental, economic, and social benefits that can be realized in our communities from revitalizing brownfields. Estimates show there to be between 450,000 and 600,000 brownfield sites in the United States. Why do we have so many of these abandoned sites? The shift away from an industrialized economy, the migration of land use from urban areas to suburban and rural areas, and our nation's strict liability contamination statutes have all contributed. By enacting this legislation, we can recycle our nation's contaminated land, reinvigorate our urban cores, stimulate economic development, revitalize blighted communities, abate environmental health risks, and reduce the pressure to develop pristine land.
People may legitimately question the necessity of enacting federal brownfields legislation. Given the frequent touting of brownfield success stories, is federal legislation necessary? The short answer is "yes". While many states have implemented innovative and effective brownfield programs, they cannot remove the federal barriers to brownfield redevelopment. By providing federal funding, eliminating federal liability for developers, and reducing the role of the federal government at brownfield sites, we will allow state and local governments to improve upon what they are already doing well.
I would like to briefly describe the highlights of our legislation. The bill authorizes $150 million per year to state and local governments to perform assessments and cleanup at brownfield sites. In addition, that money will allow EPA to issue grants for cleanup of sites to be converted into parks or open space. It also authorizes $50 million per year to establish and enhance state brownfield programs. The bill clarifies that prospective purchasers, innocent landowners, and contiguous property owners, that act appropriately, are not responsible for paying cleanup costs. Finally, this legislation offers finality by precluding EPA from taking an action at a site being addressed under a state cleanup program unless there is an "imminent and substantial endangerment" to public health or the environment, and additional work needs to be done.
Enactment of this legislation and the accompanying redevelopment will provide a building block for the revitalization of our communities. Communities whose fortunes sank along with the decline of mills and factories will once again attract new residents and well-paying jobs. We will bring vibrant industry back to the brownfield sites that currently host crime, mischief and contamination. There will be parks at sites that now contain more rubble than grass. City tax rolls will burgeon; schools will be invigorated; new homes will be built, and community character will be restored. This vision for our communities can be realized with enactment of this legislation.
As with all legislation, we must reach across the aisle and work with bipartisan cooperation to be successful. While no compromise legislation makes everyone one hundred percent happy, this bill enjoys strong support from the real estate community, local government officials, state officials, business groups, and environmental groups. I look forward to its quick consideration in the Senate.