U.S. EPA has published in the Federal Register its action that removes the old Phase I standard (1527-05) from the "All Appropriate Inquiries" Rule (AAI). Until this action, AAI recognized both the old standard and the new standard- ASTM 1527-13.
The major differences between the old and new ASTM Phase I standard include:
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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
Phase I Environmental Assessments (Phase I ESA) are the first step in the environmental due diligence process. A Phase I ESA is a review of available information regarding a property to determine the possibility contamination may be present. The assessment includes a review of environmental databases, file reviews, interviews with regulators/property owners and a site
More than one environmental consultant has reported that Ohio EPA has changed its public records review procedures. Ohio EPA has centralized its document review process. It has developed a new public records request form that it asks any consultant requesting records to fill out (click here for the form).
After files are compiled
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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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