S. 347 (119th)Bill Overview

Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2025

Environmental Protection|Alaska Natives and HawaiiansCongressional oversight
Cosponsors
Support
Republican
Introduced
Jan 30, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee

Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 6.

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does

<p><strong>Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2025</strong></p><p>This bill extends through FY2030 and modifies the Brownfields Program under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The Brownfields Program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide grants and technical assistance to states, communities, tribes, and other entities to assess, clean up, and reuse contaminated properties.</p><p>First, the bill expands eligibility for Brownfields Program resources to tax-exempt organizations defined under section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code, which are organizations that are not organized for profit and do not provide net earnings to private shareholders or individuals (e.g., chambers of commerce).</p><p>Additionally, the bill</p><ul><li>increases to $1 million the maximum grant amount that the EPA may provide for brownfield remediation per site,</li><li>removes the 5% cap that a grant recipient may use for administrative costs,</li><li>reduces the cost-sharing requirement for grant recipients from 20% to 10%,</li><li>requires the EPA to waive cost-sharing requirements for grant recipients located in small communities or disadvantaged areas,</li><li>authorizes the use of grants by a state or Indian tribe for the implementation of a response program,</li><li>modifies the criteria used to rank grant applications by requiring the consideration of whether the applicant has a plan to engage a diverse set of local groups and organizations that represent the views of the local community directly affected by the proposed brownfield project, and</li><li>requires the EPA to report on and update application ranking criteria and the approval process.</li></ul>

Why people may split

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Watch point

The next hurdle is converting committee movement into a floor coalition.

<p><strong>Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2025</strong></p><p>This bill extends through FY2030 and modifies the Brownfields Program under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA).

The Brownfields Program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide grants and technical assistance to states, communities, tribes, and other entities to assess, clean up, and reuse contaminated properties.</p><p>First, the bill expands eligibility for Brownfields Program resources to tax-exempt organizations defined under section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code, which are organizations that are not organized for profit and do not provide net earnings to private shareholders or individuals (e.g., chambers of commerce).</p><p>Additionally, the bill</p><ul><li>increases to $1 million the maximum grant amount that the EPA may provide for brownfield remediation per site,</li><li>removes the 5% cap that a grant recipient may use for administrative costs,</li><li>reduces the cost-sharing requirement for grant recipients from 20% to 10%,</li><li>requires the EPA to waive cost-sharing requirements for grant recipients located in small communities or disadvantaged areas,</li><li>authorizes the use of grants by a state or Indian tribe for the implementation of a response program,</li><li>modifies the criteria used to rank grant applications by requiring the consideration of whether the applicant has a plan to engage a diverse set of local groups and organizations that represent the views of the local community directly affected by the proposed brownfield project, and</li><li>requires the EPA to report on and update application ranking criteria and the approval process.</li></ul>

Passage38/100

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

CredibilityPartial

How solid the drafting looks.

Contention62/100

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Likely benefits vs burdens0% / 100%
Likely helpedLikely burdened

These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.

Likely helped
  • No clear beneficiaries surfaced yet.
Likely burdened
  • No clear downsides surfaced yet.
03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
Progressive

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Centrist

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Conservative

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood38/100

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

Why this could stall
  • The next hurdle is converting committee movement into a floor coalition.
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

No vote history yet

The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

Unlocked analysis

Pro readers get the full perspective split, passage barriers, legislative design review, stakeholder impact map, and lens-based policy tradeoff analysis for Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2025.

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
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