PRINTER'S NO. 3478
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2826
Session of
2022
INTRODUCED BY TOMLINSON, HENNESSEY, RYAN, THOMAS, HELM, GILLEN
AND FARRY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2022
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY,
SEPTEMBER 16, 2022
AN ACT
Amending the act of May 19, 1995 (P.L.4, No.2), entitled "An act
providing for the recycling of existing industrial and
commercial sites; further defining the cleanup liability of
new industries and tenants; establishing a framework for
setting environmental remediation standards; establishing the
Voluntary Cleanup Loan Fund, the Industrial Land Recycling
Fund and the Industrial Sites Cleanup Fund to aid industrial
site cleanups; assigning powers and duties to the
Environmental Quality Board and the Department of
Environmental Resources; and making repeals," in Industrial
Land Recycling Fund, further providing for Industrial Land
Recycling Fund and for Industrial Sites Cleanup Fund; making
a related repeal; and making editorial changes.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The title of the act of May 19, 1995 (P.L.4,
No.2), known as the Land Recycling and Environmental Remediation
Standards Act, is amended to read:
AN ACT
Providing for the recycling of existing industrial and
commercial sites; further defining the cleanup liability of
new industries and tenants; establishing a framework for
setting environmental remediation standards; establishing the
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Voluntary Cleanup Loan Fund, the Industrial Land Recycling
Fund and the Industrial Sites [Cleanup] Reuse Fund to aid
industrial site cleanups; assigning powers and duties to the
Environmental Quality Board and the Department of
Environmental [Resources] Protection; and making repeals.
Section 2. Section 102(2) and (8) of the act are amended to
read:
Section 102. Declaration of policy.
The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
* * *
(2) Incentives should be put in place to encourage
responsible persons to voluntarily develop and implement
cleanup plans without the use of taxpayer funds or the need
for adversarial enforcement actions by the Department of
Environmental [Resources] Protection which frequently only
serve to delay cleanups and increase their cost.
* * *
(8) The Department of Environmental [Resources]
Protection now routinely through its permitting policies
determines when contamination will and will not pose a
significant risk to public health or the environment. Similar
concepts should be used in establishing cleanup policies.
* * *
Section 3. The definitions of "department," "point of
compliance," "release" and "secretary" in section 103 of the act
are amended to read:
Section 103. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
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* * *
"Department." The Department of Environmental [Resources]
Protection of the Commonwealth or its successor agency.
* * *
"Point of compliance." For the purposes of determining
compliance with groundwater standards, the property boundary at
the time the contamination is discovered or such point beyond
the property boundary as the Department of Environmental
[Resources] Protection may determine to be appropriate.
* * *
"Release." Spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting,
emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping or
disposing of a regulated substance into the environment in a
manner not authorized by the Department of Environmental
[Resources] Protection. The term includes the abandonment or
discarding of barrels, containers, vessels and other receptacles
containing a regulated substance.
* * *
"Secretary." The Secretary of Environmental [Resources]
Protection of the Commonwealth.
* * *
Section 4. Sections 302(b)(1), 303(e)(1), 304(k)(2), 305(a),
701(a) and 702 of the act are amended to read:
Section 302. Background standard.
* * *
(b) Attainment.--Final certification that a site or portion
of a site meets the background standard shall be documented in
the following manner:
(1) Attainment of the background standard shall be
demonstrated by collection and analysis of representative
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samples from environmental media of concern, including soils
and groundwater in aquifers in the area where the
contamination occurs through the application of statistical
tests set forth in regulation or, if no regulations have been
adopted, in a demonstration of a mathematically valid
application of statistical tests. The [Department of
Environmental Resources] department shall also recognize
those methods of attainment demonstration generally
recognized as appropriate for that particular remediation.
* * *
Section 303. Statewide health standard.
* * *
(e) Attainment.--Final certification that a site or portion
of a site meets the Statewide health standard shall be
documented in the following manner:
(1) Attainment of cleanup levels shall be demonstrated
by collection and analysis of representative samples from the
environmental medium of concern, including soils, and
groundwater in aquifers at the point of compliance through
the application of statistical tests set forth in regulation
or, if no regulations have been adopted, in a demonstration
of a mathematically valid application of statistical tests.
The [Department of Environmental Resources] department shall
also recognize those methods of attainment demonstration
generally recognized as appropriate for that particular
remediation.
* * *
Section 304. Site-specific standard.
* * *
(k) Attainment.--Compliance with the site-specific standard
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is attained for a site or portion of a site when a remedy
approved by the department has been implemented in compliance
with the following criteria:
* * *
(2) Attainment of the site-specific standard shall be
demonstrated by collection and analysis of samples from
affected media, as applicable, such as surface water, soil,
groundwater in aquifers at the point of compliance through
the application of statistical tests set forth in regulation
or, if no regulations have been adopted, in a demonstration
of a mathematically valid application of statistical tests.
The [Department of Environmental Resources] department shall
also recognize those methods of attainment demonstration
generally recognized as appropriate for that particular
remediation.
* * *
Section 305. Special industrial areas.
(a) Special sites.--For property used for industrial
activities where there is no financially viable responsible
person to clean up contamination or for land located within
enterprise zones designated pursuant to the requirements of the
Department of Community [Affairs] and Economic Development, the
review procedures of this section shall apply for persons
conducting remediation activities who did not cause or
contribute to contamination on the property. Any environmental
remediation undertaken pursuant to this section shall comply
with one or more of the standards established in this chapter.
* * *
Section 701. Industrial Land Recycling Fund.
(a) Fund.--There is hereby established a [separate]
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restricted account in the [State Treasury] General Fund, to be
known as the Industrial Land Recycling Fund, which shall be [a
special fund] administered by the department.
* * *
Section 702. Industrial Sites [Cleanup] Reuse Fund.
(a) Establishment.--There is hereby established a [separate
account] special fund in the State Treasury, to be known as the
Industrial Sites [Cleanup] Reuse Fund, which shall be [a special
fund] administered by the Department of [Commerce. Within 60
days of the effective date of this act, the Department of
Commerce shall finalize] Community and Economic Development. The
Department of Community and Economic Development shall publish
guidelines and issue application forms to administer this fund.
(b) Purpose.--The Industrial Sites [Cleanup] Reuse Fund is
to provide financial assistance to persons who did not cause or
contribute to the contamination on property used for industrial
activity on or before the effective date of this act and who
propose to undertake a voluntary cleanup or environmental
assessment of the property.
(b.1) Financial assistance.--The financial assistance under
this section shall be in [an amount of up to] the form of grants
and loans under this section. The sum of the financial
assistance under this section may not exceed 75% of the costs
incurred for completing an environmental [study] assessment and
implementing a cleanup plan by an eligible applicant. [Financial
assistance may be in the form of grants as provided in this
section or low-interest loans, to be lent at a rate not to
exceed 2%.]
(c) [Grants] Cleanup grants.--Grants for cleanup of a
property under this section may be made to political
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subdivisions or their instrumentalities or local economic
development agencies for the purposes of this section if the
grantee owns the site on which the cleanup is being conducted
and the grantee is overseeing the cleanup. [The total amount of
grants awarded under this section in any one fiscal year shall
not exceed 20% of the total amount of the Industrial Sites
Cleanup Fund.]
(c.1) Assessment grants.--Grants to conduct an environmental
assessment of property under this section may be made to a
political subdivision or an instrumentality or local economic
development agency of a political subdivision.
(d) [Loans.--Loans meeting the requirements of subsection
(b) may be made to the following categories of applicants:
(1) Local economic development agencies.
(2) Political subdivisions or their instrumentalities.
(3) Other persons determined to be eligible by the
Department of Commerce.] Cleanup loans.--Loans for cleanup of
a property under this section may be made to political
subdivisions or an instrumentality or local economic
development agency of a political subdivision or other
persons determined to be eligible by the Department of
Community and Economic Development. The interest rate for a
cleanup loan under this subsection shall not exceed 2%.
(d.1) Assessment loans.--Loans to conduct an environmental
assessment of a property under this section may be made to
political subdivisions or an instrumentality or local economic
development agency of a political subdivision or other persons
determined to be eligible by the Department of Community and
Economic Development. The interest rate for an assessment loan
under this subsection shall not exceed 2%.
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(d.2) Performance-based cleanup loans.--The following shall
apply:
(1) The Department of Community and Economic Development
may make performance-based loans under this subsection to
applicants for projects related to remediation of any of the
following:
(i) Brownfield sites.
(ii) Nonhazardous waste or debris, including waste
tire recycling.
(2) Except as provided under paragraph (3), the interest
rate for a performance-based loan under this subsection shall
not exceed 2%.
(3) The Department of Community and Economic Development
may forgive all or a portion of a performance-based loan to
the extent that performance measures and other requirements
are accomplished by the loan recipient in accordance with the
loan agreement between the recipient and the Department of
Community and Economic Development.
(4) A performance-based loan shall only be available to
persons that did not cause or contribute to the contamination
on property used for industrial activity on or before March
17, 2000, and who propose to undertake a voluntary cleanup of
the property.
(5) The Department of Community and Economic Development
in cooperation with the department shall establish
performance measures for a performance-based loan under this
subsection, which shall include all of the following:
(i) Method to dispose of the waste or debris.
(ii) Number of jobs related to the disposal.
(iii) Resulting economic benefit to the
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Commonwealth.
(iv) Any other measure which is relevant to the
environmental benefit of the proposed voluntary cleanup
of the property.
(6) Loans under this subsection shall be included in the
annual financing strategy of the department.
(e) Priority for financial assistance.--The Department of
[Commerce] Community and Economic Development shall take all of
the following factors into consideration when determining which
applicants shall receive financial assistance under this
section:
(1) The benefit of the remedy to public health, safety
and the environment.
(2) The permanence of the remedy.
(3) The cost effectiveness of the remedy in comparison
with other alternatives.
(4) The financial condition of the applicant.
(5) The financial or economic distress of the area in
which the cleanup is being conducted.
(6) The potential for economic development.
[The Department of Commerce shall consult with the department
when determining priorities for funding under this section.]
(e.1) Consultation.--The Department of Community and
Economic Development shall consult with the department when
determining priorities for funding under this section.
(f) Terms and conditions.--[The Department of Commerce]
Except as otherwise provided in this section, the Department of
Community and Economic Development shall have the power to set
terms and conditions applicable to loans and grants it deems
appropriate. The Department of [Commerce] Community and Economic
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Development may consider such factors as it deems relevant,
including current market interest rates and the necessity to
maintain the moneys in this fund in a financially sound manner.
Loans may be made based upon the ability to repay from future
revenue to be derived from the cleanup, by a mortgage or other
collateral, or on any other fiscal matters which the Department
of [Commerce] Community and Economic Development deems
appropriate.
(g) Funds.--In addition to any funds appropriated by the
General Assembly, [$15,000,000] $17,000,000 per fiscal year
shall be transferred upon approval of the Governor from the
Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund established by the act of October
18, 1988 (P.L.756, No.108), known as the Hazardous Sites Cleanup
Act, to the Industrial Sites [Cleanup] Reuse Fund for the
purpose of implementing the program established in this section.
Moneys received by the Department of [Commerce] Community and
Economic Development as repayment of outstanding loans shall be
deposited in the fund. Any interest earned by moneys in this
fund shall remain in this fund. Moneys in the fund are hereby
appropriated to the Department of [Commerce] Community and
Economic Development for the purpose of implementing this
section.
(h) Annual report.--The Department of [Commerce] Community
and Economic Development shall on October 1 of each year report
to the General Assembly on the grants, loans, expenditures and
commitments made from this fund. The annual report shall include
an evaluation of the effectiveness of this fund in recycling
industrial and commercial sites. The evaluation shall include
any recommendations for additional changes if necessary to
improve the effectiveness of this fund in recycling such sites.
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Section 5. Repeals are as follows:
(1) The General Assembly declares that the repeal under
paragraph (2) is necessary to effectuate the amendment of
section 702 of the act.
(2) The act of May 19, 1995 (P.L.43, No.4), known as the
Industrial Sites Environmental Assessment Act, is repealed.
Section 6. The amendment of section 702 of the act is a
continuation of the act of May 19, 1995 (P.L.43, No.4), known as
the Industrial Sites Environmental Assessment Act. Except as
otherwise provided in section 702 of the act, all activities
initiated under the Industrial Sites Environmental Assessment
Act shall continue and remain in full force and effect and may
be completed under section 702. Orders, regulations, rules and
decisions which were made under the Industrial Sites
Environmental Assessment Act and which are in effect on the
effective date of section 5(2) of this act shall remain in full
force and effect until revoked, vacated or modified under
section 702 of the act. Contracts, obligations and collective
bargaining agreements entered into under the Industrial Sites
Environmental Assessment Act are not affected nor impaired by
the repeal of the Industrial Sites Environmental Assessment Act.
Section 7. The Industrial Sites Environmental Assessment
Fund established in section 3 of the act of May 19, 1995
(P.L.43, No.4), known as the Industrial Sites Environmental
Assessment Act, is abolished. The following shall apply:
(1) Any money in the former Industrial Sites
Environmental Assessment Fund is transferred to the
Industrial Sites Reuse Fund.
(2) Any encumbrances or other legal obligations of the
former Industrial Sites Environmental Assessment Fund are
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transferred to the Industrial Sites Reuse Fund.
(3) Any amounts due to be repaid to or which would
otherwise be returned to the former Industrial Sites
Environmental Assessment Fund shall be deposited into the
Industrial Sites Reuse Fund.
Section 8. This act shall take effect immediately.
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