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1 (April 24, 2007)

handle is hein.crs/crsuntaajlj0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS22575 Updated April 24, 2007 SCRS Report for Congress 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'h Congress, a reauthorization bill, H.R. 5810, was reported from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on July 28, 2006 (H.Rept. 109-608, Part 1), but went no further. Appropriations in the last four years have been between $165 million and $171 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'h 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 is likely to be an issue for the 110'h. 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) 1 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9601-9675). Congressional Research Service The Library of Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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