Believe it or not! While most of us were finishing off our Holiday
shopping lists, Congress was hard at work.
The House and Senate handed EPA's Brownfields program a surprise - at
least, it was a surprise to me - Christmas present by passing H.R. 2869,
the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act.
The House approved the bill at 4:54 a.m. on Thursday, December 20, by
voice vote. Later in the day, the Senate approved the bill without
amendment by Unanimous Consent. President Bush is expected to sign the
Act soon.
The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act,
as its title suggests, combines two legislative proposals into one. It
merges the Small Business Liability Relief Act (H.R. 1831), authored by
Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio) with the Senate-passed Brownfields Reform
Legislation (S. 350). According to Congressman Gillmor, the Small
Business Liability Protection section will shield "businesses from the
cost of a Superfund site clean up if they did not contribute a
significant amount of non-hazardous waste."
The Brownfields portion of the bill provides the first comprehensive
legislative endorsement of EPA's Brownfields program. In anchors its
definitions in statute and provides funding for the characterization and
remediation of brownfield sites. It authorizes training and other
support activities. It clarifies that certain parties who are not
responsible for pollution - owners of contiguous property, prospective
purchasers, and innocent landowners - shall not be held liable under
federal law. And it sets standards for state and tribal response
programs eligible for U.S. EPA funding. Those requirements include
opportunities for public involvement.
The text of the legislation may be found at
http://thomas.loc.gov under the bill number, H.R. 2869.
Congressman Gillmor's press release may be found at
http://www.house.gov/gillmor/122001.html
The Senate Environment Committee's brief press release may be found at
http://www.senate.gov/%7Eepw/maj_pr_12-21-01.htm
Lenny
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Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
lsiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org
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