By Judy Sheahan and Derrick Coley
January 14, 2002

President George W. Bush signed a long awaited brownfields bill into law on Friday, January 11 at a signing ceremony in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Passage of the legislation is a major victory for the nation's Mayors and The U.S. Conference of Mayors who worked diligently for over nine years on this issue. The bill, H.R. 2869, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act passed during the closing hours of Congress on December 20.

"Passage of this bill will help revitalize many contaminated sites and the surrounding communities, generating sorely needed jobs and tax revenue and improving the environment", Conference President New Orleans Mayor Marc H. Morial said, "Mayors have been on the forefront of this issue, drawing national attention to the pervasive problem of brownfields and seeking creative ways to reuse these sites and make them more productive for their communities."

The legislation provides liability relief for innocent developers and landowners of brownfield properties, money to do assessments and cleanups, and money to enhance state voluntary cleanup programs. The bill authorizes up to $250 million per year for the next five years. The bill also provides liability relief for small businesses that were caught in the liability provisions of the original Superfund Law. Brownfields are abandoned or underutilized properties whose redevelopment is hindered by either real or perceived environmental contamination. The Government Accounting Office estimates that there may be as many as 600,000 brownfields sites in the United States alone. Many brownfield sites were unintentionally created due to the strict liability provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, commonly referred to as Superfund. For details regarding the bill, please see adjoining box on page 18.

History of Brownfields Activities

The Conference of Mayors has worked on the issue of brownfields since 1993 when Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and a group of Mayors met with then-Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Carol Browner and discussed the severe impacts that brownfields had on their communities and outlined the tools that were needed to redevelop these sites. These "tools" included liability relief for innocent developers and money to conduct environmental assessments and cleanup. Six months after that initial meeting, Browner announced the first round of EPA brownfield pilot grants.

The following year, 1994, the Conference held its first Brownfields Forum at the Portland, Oregon, Annual Conference of Mayors meeting. Incoming Conference President, Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe appointed the first Conference of Mayors Brownfields Task Force. Later that year, USCM leaders met with then-President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore to discuss the issue with them and urged their support. However, no measures were taken during the 103rd Congress.

In January of 1995, EPA Administrator Carol Browner announced EPA's Brownfields Initiative at the Conference's Winter Meeting. The Initiative included establishment of a 50 pilot program, administrative reforms, and the removal of 24,000 "Archived" CERCLIS sites to help destigmatize these properties to assist in their redevelopment. Later that year, the Conference officially adopted a Brownfields Policy statement at its Miami Annual Meeting that called on Congress to reform Superfund to address the issue of liability and brownfields development and to urge EPA to expand its brownfields program to provide funding to any city that has a brownfield site. In December 1995 then-Conference of Mayors President Seattle Mayor Norman Rice and a group of Mayors wrote President Clinton and Congressional leaders urging their support for a Brownfields tax incentive to encourage private sector developers to invest on brownfield properties.

President Clinton, during the 1996 State of the Union address, announced his support for a Brownfields Tax Incentive. At the Conference's Winter Meeting, the first Brownfields survey and action plan was released. Over the next few months, the Conference worked with the Administration on a tax incentive proposal. However, the 104th Congress adjourned that year taking no action on either tax incentives or Superfund Reform. Elizabeth (NJ) Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer, Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe, and former Fort Wayne Mayor Paul Helmke all testified in 1997 before various Senate and House committees and outlined the Conference's Brownfields Action Agenda.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, as then-President of the Conference of Mayors, hosted the first Brownfields meeting between Mayors and the private sector in May 1997. The meeting brought together major corporations, real estate executives and mayors to discuss the impediments of brownfields redevelopment. One month later at the Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting in San Francisco, President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and the Administration leaders all expressed their commitment to brownfields redevelopment. Fort Wayne Mayor Paul Helmke, the newly appointed President of the Conference, announced that Brownfields Redevelopment would be his number one priority during his Presidential year. He appointed his brownfields task force that included Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, Cedar Rapids Mayor Lee Clancey, and Rockford Mayor Charles Box. In August, President Clinton signed into law the Brownfields Tax Incentive. The Mayors met again in October for a brownfields and housing meeting hosted by Charlotte Mayor Patrick McCrory, the Chair of the Conference's Environmental Committee.

Mayor Helmke spent his Presidential tenure testifying before both houses of Congress as well as meeting with key legislators. Charlotte Mayor Patrick McCrory also testified before the House Commerce Committee. At the Conferences' Winter Meeting, Representative Sherwood Boehlert (NY) outlined his bill H.R. 2727, the Superfund Acceleration, Fairness, and Efficiency Act. Mayor Helmke and the Brownfields Task Force joined Representative Boehlert and announced the launch of a National Brownfields Campaign. They also released the first national brownfields survey entitled Recycling America's Land: A National Report on Brownfields Redevelopment. The report outlined the extent of the brownfields problem in over 125 cities including the impediments for redevelopment and the potential economic benefits if these sites were redeveloped.

During the 105th Congress, 24 bills dealing with the issue of brownfields were introduced in the House and Senate. In addition to Representative Boehlert's bill, Senator Bob Smith (NH) also introduced S.8, the Superfund Cleanup Acceleration Act of 1997. In June 1998, the Mayors teamed up with the Federal Home Loan Bank System to encourage banks to do more lending on brownfield properties. A "Banking and Brownfields" summit was held and a commitment was made by the banking institutions to promote lending for brownfields redevelopment. At the Brownfields '98 Conference, former Conference of Mayors President Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini called for Congressional passage of brownfields legislation.

Although momentum was growing for the issue, brownfields legislation was stalled and the 105th Congress adjourned before taking further action.

As the 106th Congress reconvened, a total of 41 bills were introduced that dealt with brownfields. These bills include Representative Boehlert's H.R. 1300 which was renamed the Recycle America's Land Act and its companion bill, S.1090, sponsored by Senator John Chaffee (RI), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee. Former Mayors testified throughout this Congressional session and spoke at events to gain support in passing a bipartisan bill.

In April 1999, the Conference released its second annual Recycling America's Land report. The Mayors are joined by representatives of American Farmland Trust who outlined how brownfields redevelopment could assist in the preservation of farmlands.

During the 106th Congress, Senator John Chaffee passed away and his son, Warwick (RI) Mayor Lincoln Chaffee succeeded him in November 1999. Citing the strong support of the Conference of Mayors for Brownfields Redevelopment, he continued his father's work and introduced his own brownfields bill, S.2700, the Brownfields Revitalization and Environmental Restoration Act of 2000.

During the Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting in January 2000, EPA Administrator Browner outlines the work done by EPA on brownfields. The Mayors urged her and the Administration to support bipartisan brownfields legislation. In February 2000, the Conference of Mayors released its third annual Recycling America's Land Report at a brownfields site in Miami, Florida. In April and June 2000, Mayor Bollwage testified before the Senate subcommittee on the importance of bipartisan brownfields legislation.

At the Conference's Annual meeting in Seattle in June of 2000, both Presidential candidates, then-Governor George W. Bush and then-Vice President Al Gore, gave their commitment to support brownfields redevelopment. Later that year, during one of the presidential debates, Governor Bush discussed how brownfields would be an important environmental priority. Former Conference of Mayors President and Boise Mayor H. Brent Coles, Mayor Bollwage and Buffalo Mayor Anthony Masiello (Brownfields Task Force co-chairs), Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer, Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, and a host of other Mayors addressed the Brownfields 2000 Conference, urging the quick passage of brownfields legislation.

Though there were House and Senate versions of brownfields legislation that had garnered strong bipartisan support (S.2700 had 66 cosponsors), no bills were brought to the floor and the 106th Congress adjourned before floor action was taken. After President George W. Bush was sworn into office in 2001, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten came to both the Conference's Winter meeting and the Key West Leadership meeting and expressed the White House's strong support for Brownfields redevelopment.

As the 107th Congress reconvened, a bipartisan coalition was formed in the Senate consisting of Senators Bob Smith (NH), Lincoln Chaffee (RI), Frank Lautenberg (NJ), Barbara Boxer (CA), and Harry Reid (NV). They introduced S.350, the Brownfields Revitalization and Restoration Act of 2001 in February. Mayor Bollwage testified before the Senate subcommittee in February and told the Senators that the Conference fully supported their efforts in passing S.350.

In March 2001, EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman joined Senator Chaffee (RI), Conference Vice President New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial and Charlotte Mayor Patrick McCrory at a Conference of Mayors Press Club event. Administrator Whitman announced the Administrations' support for S. 350. Mayor McCrory testified before the House in March. The Senate passed S.350 in April by a vote of 99-0. After the Senate switched to a Democratic majority in June, Senator Jim Jeffords (VT), as the new Committee Chair for Environment and Public Works pledged that brownfields legislation was a top priority and he urged the House to pass brownfields legislation this year.

Mayor Bollwage testified before the House in July, urging bipartisan brownfields legislation. The House passed, in April, H.R. 2869, the Small Business Liability Exemption Act. The House combined S. 350 with H.R. 2869 and scheduled to vote on the bill on September 11. The bill was rescheduled after the September 11 terrorist attack to September 24. At the last minute, a dispute arose over whether Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage laws applied to brownfields cleanup and the combined bill, now called H.R. 2869, was pulled from consideration. On September 25 and 26, Mayor Bollwage, Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson (co-chairs of the Brownfields Task Force) and Administrator Whitman all spoke at the Brownfields 2001 Conference and urged House members to work out the differences and pass the legislation.

In December, with the urging of Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (IL), Representatives Billy Tauzin (LA), Paul Gillmor (OH), John Dingell (MI), and Frank Pallone (NJ) worked behind the scenes and reached a tentative compromise. Although some conservative members of Congress and a few business groups were lobbying for the bill to be delayed, Conference President New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial wrote to both House and Senate members urging them to support the bill. He also sent action alerts to the Mayors urging them to contact their representatives. Private sector supporters also lent their support for the brownfields bill including the National Reality Roundtable and USCM Business Council Members, AIG and the International Council of Shopping Centers.

The House took up the bill at 4:30 am on December 20. Representatives Gillmor (OH), Boehlert (NY), and James Oberstar (MN) acknowledged the important role that mayors and the Conference of Mayors had in pushing brownfields legislation. "This legislation is supported by the Bush Administration, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Building and Construction Trade Unions, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Real Estate Round Table, including the National Association of Realtors and many other groups," Gillmor said.

"The nation's mayors and their constituencies see the tremendous opportunities for economic development and environmental protection embodied in brownfields revitalization and they are rallying behind this legislation, just as they did when they began their initiative to Ôrecycle America's land'," Boehlert said.

The bill passed on the House suspension calendar at 5:00 am. The bill then went to the Senate where various holds were placed on the bill. Finally, after much behind-the-scenes work, all holds were released and the bill was placed on the unanimous consent calendar where it passed the Senate later that night. It was the second to last bill to be voted on.

President Bush signed H.R.2869 into law on January 11, 2002 at a signing ceremony on a former steel mill in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

For more information on Brownfields, please view the Conference's website: usmayors.org/USCM/brownfields/