As part of the 2016-2017 Operating Budget for the Ohio Development Services Agency (ODSA), a new $20 million dollar cleanup fund was created in House Bill 64 to address old gas stations around the state. The money came from remaining Clean Ohio funds.
Abandoned or defunct service stations have always fallen through the cracks
One of the issues that has prevented local governments from being more aggressive in addressing brownfields has been liability concerns associated with existing environmental contamination. Prior to 2009, some local governments learned the hard way that placing their name in the chain of title as an "owner" exposed the local government to liability under CERCLA
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Last week, we hosted a very successful seminar covering commercial and industrial property redevelopment. I participated on a panel that included JobsOhio, the City of Cleveland and TeamNEO discussing brownfield redevelopment, in particular, incentives. A major focus of the discussions was the relatively new JobsOhio Revitalization Program.
I have worked with JobsOhio on
The federal government is the nation’s largest property owner. It holds over 900,000 buildings and structures totaling three billion square feet.
In 2010, the federal government spent more than 1.5 billion dollars to maintain approximately 77,000 underutilized and vacant properties. Another 14,000 properties are no longer used by the federal government and could be
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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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
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
Ohio EPA has established its own voluntary cleanup program for addressing hazardous substances and obtaining a legal release from liability- the Voluntary Action Program (VAP). The VAP program has been on the books since 1995.
When the VAP was created its purpose was to allow the private sector to address historical contamination at industrial or
The Kasich Administration has decided that it wants to put the legal challenges to JobsOhio to rest once and for all. Through legal maneuvering the Administration has put the ultimate question- is JobsOhio constitutional- before the Ohio Supreme Court. At issue is whether transfer of liquor profits to JobsOhio violates the Ohio Constitutional prohibition on
The contractual language appearing in purchase or lease agreements for industrial property is critical. I have seen a number of contracts that were fraught with vague terms or even silent on liability allocation. Those contracts now define the company’s liability exposure. Protections the company thought they may have are either non-existent or in question.
That is why it is