I have written before regarding the flaws in Ohio’s automatic ten year tax abatement for brownfield cleanups. In my prior post, I discussed both timing issues and exclusion of new buildings/improvements from coverage under the tax abatement.
Over the years, as I have dealt with this law in practice for clients, another reality has
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Ohio EPA is moving forward with substantial changes to the rules for the Voluntary Action Program (VAP) which governs the procedures and standards for voluntary cleanup of industrial sites and brownfields. The Agency provided an overview of the changes and its response to public comments last week at the Ohio Brownfields Conference in Columbus.
The
In real estate transactions it is not uncommon for the seller to provide the buyer a copy of prior a Phase I environmental assessment. The seller either ordered a Phase I in anticipation of the transaction or one may exist from a prior transaction involving the same property. Should the buyer be satisfied with this
In Ohio, the primary brownfield cleanup program is known as the Voluntary Action Program (VAP). Volunteers can cleanup their site to commercial/industrial or residential standards. Upon completing the cleanup the volunteer can receive a legal release from the State of Ohio (called a "Covenant-Not-to-Sue" or CNS).
The CNS under the VAP does not include a
On December 30th, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally took action trying to address the confusion it caused when it previously issued a final rule recognizing both ASTM 1527-05 and 1527-13 as appropriate standards for conducting Phase I assessment. A proper Phase I assessment is a requirement for establishing the Bona Fide Purchaser Defense
Over the weekend, there was a good blog post on Schnapf LLC Blog discussing which Phase I standard lawyers and consultants should use for at least the rest of 2013. Due to an unanticipated reversal by U.S. EPA, there is a gap right now between the current ASTM standard and EPA’s recognized standard for Phase
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On October 22nd, Kristi Tanner, a managing director of JobsOhio presented regarding Ohio’s new brownfield redevelopment incentive program which will replace Clean Ohio. Many in the brownfield redevelopment community have been anxiously awaiting the roll-out of the new program.
According to Ms. Tanner, JobsOhio will start discussing potential projects now, but awards under the new
As discussed in a prior post, U.S. EPA had issued a direct final rule approving the use of the new ASTM Standard E 1527-13 "Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process." The final rule was set to take effect on November 13, 2013.
If the rule had gone into
This past spring, the Kasich Administration put another $15 million in grant funding into the Clean Ohio program. (See prior post). While a public announcement has yet to be made regarding grant awards for the remaining $15 million, it is my understanding that the money is allocated. Announcements may be made next week at
The title of this blog post may make many in the environmental consulting and legal business laugh. "Of course not…" most would certainly reply. With Phase I’s governed by two ASTM guidance documents and the EPA "All Appropriate Inquiries" Rule (AAI), how can there be such variations?
The answer is that a Phase I environmental