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1 1 (November 30, 2007)

handle is hein.crs/crsajky0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS22575 Updated November 30, 2007 Brownfield Issues in the 110th Congress Mark Reisch Analyst in Environmental Policy Resources, Science, and Industry Division Summary The Brownfields Act authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to award grants for the assessment and cleanup of sites that pose a less serious threat to human health and the environment than sites addressed by the Superfund program. The authorization expired on September 30, 2006. In the 109' Congress, a reauthorization bill, H.R. 5810, was reported (H.Rept. 109-608, Part 1), but went no further. Appropriations in the last four years have been between $163 million and $170 million. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) also has a small Brownfields Program, and approximately 20 other agencies have programs or activities that foster cleanup and development. In the 110' Congress, the House passed H.R. 644, a bill making HUD brownfields grants more accessible to smaller communities. Because reauthorization was not enacted in the 109th Congress, it may be an issue for the 110h. For more background information on the origins and development of the Brownfields Program, see CRS Report RL30972, The Brownfields Program Authorization: Cleanup of Contaminated Sites, and CRS Report 97-731, Superfund and the Brownfields Issue, both by Mark Reisch. The Superfund Program is the federal government's main effort to clean up abandoned, accidentally spilled, and illegally dumped hazardous waste that poses current or future threats to human health or the environment. It focuses on the worst spills and other releases of hazardous substances, whereas the Brownfields Program is designed to assist local governments with the cleanup of abandoned, idled, or underutilized commercial and industrial sites where the contamination, if any, is not as serious. Amendments to the Superfund Act' in 2002 (P.L. 107-118, known as the Brownfields Act) gave statutory authority to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA' s) Brownfields Program, which the EPA initiated administratively in 1993 under Superfund's authority. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9601-9675).

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