Sponsors (2)
The bill increases and broadens brownfields funding, eligibility, and community engagement to speed and deepen cleanups—especially for disadvantaged and tribal communities—while raising federal costs, increasing competition for limited funds, and creating administrative and planning challenges for smaller applicants.
Local communities (urban, rural), state governments, tribes, and other applicants will be able to carry out larger and more comprehensive cleanups because the bill increases available grant resources (removes a restrictive phrase), doubles the per-site cap, and raises statutory funding levels for state/tribal response programs.
Disadvantaged, low-income, tribal, and Alaska Native communities will gain greater access, voice, and eligibility for brownfields funds through stronger community engagement requirements, targeted incentives for disadvantaged areas, recognition of Alaska Native corporations, and explicit tribal/state program support.
Residents near contaminated sites (including tribal and rural communities) are likely to see improved public-health protections as larger grants and expanded program reach enable more thorough remediation and faster response actions.
Taxpayers could face higher federal spending and potential budgetary impacts because the bill raises per-site caps and authorizes larger program funding levels.
Doubling per-site funding caps and adding new eligible recipients could reduce the number of contaminated sites that receive federal support if overall appropriations do not increase, leaving some communities without funding.
Smaller applicants and communities may face higher administrative and compliance burdens (engagement plans, matching or reporting requirements), which could disadvantage nonprofits, small local governments, and rural communities with limited capacity.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Raises per-site brownfields grant cap to $1M, expands Alaska eligibility, directs EPA to streamline 104(k) applications, and authorizes $50M–$75M/yr for state/tribal response grants (FY2025–FY2030).
Official title: Amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to reauthorize brownfields revitalization funding, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 30, 2025 by Shelley Moore Capito · Last progress January 30, 2025
Makes targeted changes to the federal brownfields grant and state/tribal response grant programs to expand eligibility, increase per-site funding, and direct multi-year authorization levels for cleanup-related assistance. It adds provisions to improve access and outreach to small and disadvantaged communities, requires EPA to streamline application and ranking processes and update guidance, and explicitly extends eligibility to Alaska Regional and Village Corporations. Key programmatic changes include raising the per-site CERCLA 104(k) grant cap from $500,000 to $1,000,000, authorizing $50M–$75M per year for state/tribal response grants for FY2025–FY2030, modifying applicant community engagement requirements, and narrowing certain allocation percentages to prioritize disadvantaged communities (some insertion text not provided in the summary).