This week, Inside EPA (subscription required) ran a story indicating that EPA is trying to figure out how to juggle some increasingly expensive cleanups with shortfalls in Superfund tax revenue. The story notes that EPA is...more
Yesterday, I spoke with Sarah Mattalian, an Inside EPA reporter writing a story about the suggestion by an EPA official that EPA might require additional PFAS investigations and clean up at properties that had already been...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced in a May 25th news release that it is providing $215 million to expedite the assessment and cleanup of Brownfield sites....more
The Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (“ESA”) is the quintessential environmental diligence tool for transactions involving real property. A Phase I ESA includes a site inspection and review of current and past uses and...more
For transactions in 2023 and going forward, parties who purchase property will want to be aware of an update applicable to Phase I reports. By final rule issued on December 15, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in the process of rulemaking to adopt a new national standard for Phase I environmental site assessments. While the EPA had hoped to adopt the new Phase I standard more...more
Congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known also as Superfund, in 1980 to address the horror of sites like Love Canal where discarded toxic chemicals began...more
ASTM International (ASTM) has proposed redefining a Controlled Recognized Environmental Condition (CREC). The ASTM's definition, as drafted, confuses risk-based decision-making with the implementation of institutional...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published a March 9th Federal Register Notice referencing the availability of additional funding for brownfields. See 85 Fed. Reg. 13647. EPA states that it is...more
The Leading Infrastructure For Tomorrow's America Act (LIFT America Act or the Act), H.R. 2741 – 116th Congress, was introduced by Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) on May 15, 2019. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is...more
Redevelopment of environmentally-damaged property has seen steady growth in North Carolina and nationwide. The attraction to dense, urban communities offering work/live/play opportunities and away from suburban living has...more
This Corner Briefing highlights new Environmental Screening Levels (ESLs) established by the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board on Jan. 24, 2019. The new ESLs have the potential for making sites that cleared...more
Despite last minute veto threats from the White House, the bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 was signed into law earlier this year. Buried deep in this massive omnibus spending bill is a major win for...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced in an April 25th news release that it had awarded $300,000 to the East Arkansas Planning and Development District(“East District”). The East District is...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 includes, at pages 1768-1786 of the bill, the “Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development Act of 2018,” also known as the “BUILD Act.” This is a bi-partisan bill...more
On February 12, 2018, the Trump Administration released its much-anticipated Infrastructure Plan. While the bulk of the more than 50-page document proposes a wide array of funding and reforms for various infrastructure...more
• The Trump Administration released an ambitious $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan on Feb. 12, 2018 – a plan that includes many provisions focused upon encouraging the reuse of contaminated brownfields and Superfund sites. ...more
The U.S. House of Representatives (“House”) on November 30th passed amendments that would address the federal Brownfield program. H.R. 3017 is titled the “Brownfields Enhancement, Economic Redevelopment, and...more
Harbor Environmental and Pulaski County jointly sponsored a November 15th seminar held in North Little Rock, Arkansas addressing a variety of Arkansas Brownfield issues. Mr. Josh Fout, who serves as Pulaski County...more
The Council of Development Finance Agencies (“CDFA”), a national association dedicated to the advancement of development finance concerns and interests, announced the creation of the Brownfields Project Marketplace...more
This is the second edition in an ongoing series of "Corner Briefings" highlighting urban infill legal tools and opportunities. These updates identify new legal cases, legislative updates, grant opportunities and other urban...more
NEW REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS - Federal - New Critical Habitat for Gulf of Maine Atlantic Sturgeon to be Designated - The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has agreed to designate critical habitat...more
In Voggenthaler v. Maryland Square LLC, 724 F.3d 1050 (9th Cir. 2013), the defendants argued that contamination that happened in Vegas, stayed in Vegas, and therefore the Commerce Clause barred the application of CERCLA. The...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently issued two guidelines with far-reaching implications for real estate transactions involving contaminated sites, including sites owned by the Department of Defense. The...more
Tenants who lease currently or formerly contaminated property can now benefit from protections from cleanup liability that were once available only to purchasers of such property. EPA announced its new policy in a December...more