On April 3, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved by voice vote the Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act of 2013 (S. 491). This legislation would reauthorize the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Brownfields Program which funds the rehabilitation of abandoned and polluted properties to increase safety and attract new businesses to communities across the country. The bill increases the limit for site remediation grants from the current $200,000 to $500,000 per site, and gives the EPA Administrator discretion to raise the limit further to $650,000. In addition, the bill authorizes EPA to prioritize technical assistance to small communities, Indian tribes, rural communities, or low income areas with populations below 15,000 when applying for grants under the Brownfields program.