During a recent hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee, Congressman August Pfluger of Texas’ 11th District addressed the specific challenges that rural communities encounter in using the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Brownfields Program. The session, titled “Ready for Reuse: Legislative Proposals to Unleash the Potential of America’s Brownfields Sites,” focused on how federal policies can better assist these communities.
Rep. Pfluger stated, “Rural communities like the ones I represent often lack the in-house expertise to navigate complex federal programs on their own. That is why robust federal technical assistance and streamlined permitting are essential. I look forward to continuing these conversations to draft and champion legislation that will provide clarity and support to communities utilizing the Brownfields Program.”
The hearing featured several witnesses, including Gerald L. Pouncey Jr., Senior Counsel at Taft Stettinius & Hollister; David W. Robinson, Executive Vice President of Strategic Development at Aligned Data Centers; Hon. Alan Tomson, Mayor of Davis, West Virginia and member of the National Brownfields Coalition; and Chris Wells, Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and President of the Environmental Council of the States.
Rep. Pfluger questioned Mayor Tomson about practical barriers for rural towns accessing EPA Brownfield Grants. Mayor Tomson responded: “Yes, sir, it’s a little bit of all of that. Resources are very important. The program, the funding I talked about, how we really don’t want to compete with the big entities, because we probably would lose the ability to have the funding that we’ve had in the past. From a technical standpoint, we also in rural communities don’t have the expertise to do the things we need to do for these grants, and that’s where we rely on the EPA’s technical assistance Brownfield Centers, which do a great job. And then also our partners at the state level, also with the Brownfield Program, make a big difference, and it’s leveraging their knowledge, their expertise, that allows us to be successful.”
Pfluger then asked Chris Wells how federal policy could further help state-level brownfield responses for small rural communities lacking staff capacity for cleanup or redevelopment projects on their own.
Mr. Wells said: “We serve in that role of helping people walk through the process, and adequately funding the components of the program that fund our work there is critical.”
When asked if there were examples where this approach was not effective or needed improvement:
Mr. Wells replied: “With our help, I’m not aware of any that haven’t gone well.”
Turning his questions toward private investment viability in brownfield sites and community involvement requirements during redevelopment projects—especially regarding permitting—Rep. Pfluger engaged Mr. Robinson.
Mr. Robinson explained: “One point that I really wanted to make was that we do take community involvement… That’s certainly not how we do our data center projects… I’ve done three [community information sessions] in the last month alone… Many of our permits are local permits… earlier I mentioned we have not taken advantage of [federal] Brownfield Programs… We’ve not had to use any of those grant programs to date…”
Rep Pfluger pressed further on potential costs without permitting reforms as Congress considers new legislation.
Mayor Tomson responded: “Well, I think especially when you look at EPA technical assistance Brownfield Centers—they actually had a twenty percent staffing cut through DOGE efforts—and that has hampered their ability to support local rural communities in some advice and technical assistance. Shoring that up would be very helpful…”
Congressman August Pfluger has represented Texas’s 11th District since 2021 after replacing Mike Conaway in Congress. He won his seat by defeating Jon Mark Hogg with nearly 80% percent of votes during his first general election campaign.
Pfluger was born in Houston in 1978 and currently lives in San Angelo.
