January 14, 2002

On January 11, President George W. Bush signed H.R. 2869, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act, into law. Major provisions of the bill are listed below. For a complete copy of the bill, please see www.thomas.loc.gov and enter search for H.R. 2869.

Brownfields Revitalization and Environmental Restoration

• Authorization for Appropriations - $200,000,000 has been authorized for each of the fiscal years 2002-2006 to conduct the activities listed below. Out of this amount $50,000,000 (or 25% of the amount made available) are for sites contaminated by petroleum products with some limitations.
• Brownfields Assessments - The Administrator shall establish a program to provide grants to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning related to brownfield sites. Grants may not exceed $200,000 unless a waiver is granted by the Administrator whereby a grant not to exceed $350,000 may be awarded.
• Brownfields Remediation — Grants, not to exceed $1,000,000, will be made available to eligible entities and nonprofit organizations to be used for capitalization of revolving loan funds and direct grants to remediate brownfield sites (not to exceed $200,000). The Administrator is allowed to provide additional grant money to a previously designated entity.
• Local Government Site Remediation Programs/Public Health — A local government that receives a grant may use up to 10 percent of the grant fund to develop a brownfields program that monitors the health of populations exposed to one or more hazardous materials from a brownfield site and monitoring and enforcement of institutional controls to prevent human exposure to any hazardous substance from a brownfield site.
• Insurance — A recipient of an assessment or remediation grant or loan may use a portion of the grant or loan to purchase insurance for the characterization, assessment, or remediation of that site.

Brownfields Liability Clarifications

• Contiguous Properties — A person that owns real property that may be contaminated by a release or threat of a release of a hazardous substance from another property shall not be potentially liable for response costs if the contiguous property owner or operator of a facility did not cause, contribute, or consent to the release of the hazardous substance.
• Prospective Purchasers — A bona fide prospective purchaser whose potential liability for a release is based solely on the purchaser's being considered to be an owner or operator of a facility shall not be liable as long as the bona fide prospective purchaser does not impede the performance of a response action or natural resource restoration. The prospective purchaser needs to make all appropriate inquiries into the previous ownership and uses of the facility in accordance with generally accepted good commercial and customary standards.

• Authorization - $50,000,000 is authorized for each of fiscal years 2002-2006 for enhancement of state response programs. This money can be used to enhance state voluntary response programs. Some eligible activities include capitalization of revolving loan funds for brownfields remediation or the purchase of insurance or development of a risk sharing pool.

Small Business Liability Exemption

• Small Contributor Exemption - A person is exempt from the costs at a facility on the National Priorities List if the total amount of hazardous substances that the person arranged for disposal or treatment of was less than 110 gallons of liquid materials or less than 200 pounds of solid waste materials.
• Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Exemption - A person shall not be liable, with respect to response costs at a facility on the National Priorities List, for MSW disposed at a facility if it can be demonstrated that the person is an owner, operator, or lessee of residential property from which all their waste was generated from a residential property; a business entity with less than 100 employees; or a tax exempt organization with less than 100 employees.