Goldstein Addresses Congress on Strengthening the Federal Brownfields Program

In May 2025, Michael Goldstein, Managing Partner of the Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, appeared before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment to provide witness testimony at the hearing on Brownfields Reauthorization. The invitation marked a professional milestone and a meaningful opportunity to help shape federal policy on cleanup and redevelopment.

Drawing on more than three decades of experience, Michael’s testimony outlined the financial, regulatory, and legal tools that Congress can strengthen to lift communities, accelerate cleanup, protect public health, and expand economic opportunity. His recommendations to Congress included:

• Renew the Federal Brownfield Tax Incentive
• Create a U.S. Brownfields Loan Guarantee Program
• Prioritize affordable housing on brownfield sites by amending Section 42 of the IRS Code to increase certain Low Income Housing Tax Credits
• Increase flexibility and maximum grant awards under the EPA Brownfields Program
• Expand brownfield grants available to state agencies
• Create a CERCLA PFAS exemption for parties who enter into voluntary cleanup agreements with a state environmental agency

The hearing underscored the bipartisan foundation on which EPA’s Brownfields Program has rested since the mid-1990s. Members of both parties engaged throughout the nearly two-and-a-half-hour session, raising thoughtful, substantive questions and signaling sustained congressional interest in strategies that support community revitalization.

Michael’s written testimony can be downloaded here, and a full recording of the hearing is available online here