Last month, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee unanimously passed the Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2025, which is legislation to reauthorize the EPA’s brownfields program, and the Strategies to Eliminate Waste and Accelerate Recycling Development (STEWARD) Act, which is legislation to improve our nation’s recycling and composting systems.

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“The Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2025 wasintroduced by U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the EPW Committee, and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), and the STEWARD Act was introduced by Chairman Capito, and U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the EPW Committee, and John Boozman (R-Ark.),” according to a press release from Capito.

Background

Brownfields are contaminated and abandoned industrial sites that disproportionately impact rural and low-income communities. There are more than 450,000 estimated brownfield sites across the United States.

These sites pose ongoing environmental and public health risks, depress property values, reduce economic activity, and increase crime rates.

The EPA brownfields program is dedicated to assisting with funding the cleanup of these sites. The existing program has many complex requirements and application barriers that have prevented small and underserved communities from fully benefiting from accessing funding from the program.

Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2025

The bill reauthorizes the Brownfield Act through 2030 and improves the previous act by streamlining the complex application process to make it easier for small and underserved communities to access this funding.

To expand access to the brownfields program resources, the bill addresses cost-prohibitive barriers impacting those communities by:

• Helping smaller communities compete more effectively with larger entities that have more resources to absorb overhead costs,
• Reducing the cost-share requirement from 20 percent to 10 percent, and
• Providing cost-share waivers for small and underserved communities.

The bill also updates the program's grant amounts to match current construction costs and project sizes, aligning them with the reality of doing business today, by:

• Doubling maximum site cleanup grants from $500,000 to $1 million;
• Increasing state program funding to $75 million annually by 2030; and
• Improving competitive grant criteria to better align with local redevelopment needs.

“The Senate [EPW Committee] … held a markup on the Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2025 (S. 347), where the legislation was unanimously reported to the full Senate,” notes law firm Holland & Knight LLP. “To date, floor consideration has not been scheduled, and a U.S. House of Representatives companion measure has not yet been introduced in the 119th Congress. S. 347 was reintroduced by [Capito and Rochester].

“Stakeholders will have opportunities to shape this important legislation and should monitor congressional action to understand how these adjustments may impact existing and future initiatives.”

STEWARD Act

This bill establishes the EPA Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Program, which is designed to expand recycling access in underserved communities by authorizing strategic infrastructure investments and public-private partnerships.

The pilot grant program, if finalized, will:

• Authorize competitive grant awards from $500,000 to $15 million to support projects that enhance recycling infrastructure using a hub-and-spoke development model.
• Prioritize communities with limited access to materials recovery facilities.
• Support projects that:
• Create additional transfer stations.
• Expand curbside recycling programs.
• Reduce collection and transportation costs.

The bill modernizes recycling and composting data collection by establishing standardized metrics to assess and improve waste management systems nationwide and authorizes the EPA to collect and report data on market trends, material processing rates, and the effectiveness of curbside recycling programs.

“The STEWARD Act is strongly supported by a broad coalition of stakeholders, including prominent companies such as PepsiCo, Unilever and General Mills, along with major trade associations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers,” according to a one-page fact sheet on the Act.