Hill Heat

Subcommittee hearing entitled “Cleaning Up the Past, Building the Future: The Brownfields Program.”

Witnesses:

• Terry M. Wilbur, Clerk, Oswego County, New York; on behalf of the National Association of Counties
• Lisa Shook, Assistant Chief, Division of Environmental Response and Remediation, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
• Lance Larson, Analyst in Environmental Policy; Resources, Science, and Industry Division; Congressional Research Service
• Michael Goldstein, Esq., Managing Partner, Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A.

Opening remarks, as prepared, of Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Mike Collins (R-GA) from today’s hearing, entitled, “Cleaning Up the Past, Building the Future: The Brownfields Program”:

I want to first thank our witnesses for joining us this morning to discuss EPA’s Brownfields Program. As we review the program, last authorized in 2018, I’m looking forward to learning from our witnesses about their experiences with the program, suggestions for program improvements, as well as the tangible impact it’s had on the ground.

All of us here, throughout our travels, have seen abandoned warehouses, dilapidated gas stations, or vacant factories. Often, these blighted properties, which are eyesores in our communities, are considered brownfields. Brownfields are properties that are abandoned or underused due to concerns about environmental contamination. EPA has estimated that there are more than 450,000 brownfield sites across the United States. Their redevelopment and reuse can help increase local tax bases, create jobs, and encourage additional development.

According to EPA, since its inception, the program has made over 10,800 sites ready for productive reuse, leveraged more than $40.4 billion in additional cleanup and redevelopment funding, and helped to create or leverage more than 270,000 jobs.

However, property owners and developers are often hesitant to finance the redevelopment of these sites because of possible liability under CERCLA.

CERCLA liability is no joke. CERCLA has extremely stringent liability standards that could result in a current property owner being held responsible for cleanup costs at a site, even if there was no negligence on their part or if other parties had previously caused the contamination.

This program provides common-sense liability relief to folks who want to improve a degraded site. The EPA Brownfields Program helps communities assess and evaluate contamination at these sites and provides funding to help clean up and promote their redevelopment.

For example, in my district in Georgia, the program assisted the City of Greensboro in addressing contamination at an old cotton mill. As part of this project, approximately 2,600 tons of contaminated soil were removed from the property, and the mill was ultimately redeveloped and converted into a 71-unit apartment complex.

Federal funding through the Brownfields Program helps attract other non-federal project funding for assessment, remediation, and redevelopment efforts. But we know that just throwing hard-earned taxpayer money at problems doesn’t make them go away.

That’s why I also want to underscore the importance of programmatic efficiencies and regulatory relief when it comes to redevelopment and timely project completions.

For far too long, the EPA has placed untenable regulatory and bureaucratic burdens on hardworking Americans that cost them time and money. That’s why I am working with my colleagues here in Congress and with the Trump Administration on efforts to reduce red tape and streamline permitting processes.

At the end of the day, these types of improvements will help important projects get done more efficiently – whether it’s redeveloping Brownfields sites or constructing an Army Corps project. And that benefits all Americans.