On December 16, 2022, Governor DeWine announced $88 million in grant funding for 123 brownfield remediation projects. This marks the third round of funding. Collectively, the three rounds of funding have resulted in a total of $341 million in grant funding awarded in one year. Of the $341 million in grant funds provided $19.2 million
Ohio EPA Responds to Concerns Regarding the VAP and the Agency’s Response to TCE
[SPECIAL BLOG POST: Ohio EPA asked to publish a guest post on the Ohio Environmental Law Blog regarding recent developments pertaining to the Agency’s response to sites with trichloroethene (TCE) and the Voluntary Action Program (VAP). The Ohio EPA response is posted below in its entirety]
In August 2017, Ohio EPA announced to Certified
Has Ohio Undermined Its Voluntary Cleanup Program?
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As discussed in my prior post, in September Ohio EPA announced that it would be sending “hundreds of letters” to property owners that have trichloroethylene (TCE) contamination, including property owners that cleaned up their property under the Voluntary Action Program (VAP). At the September meeting of VAP professionals the Agency announced that it could take
Budget Bill Fix to VAP Automatic Tax Exemption
This blog has previously detailed some of the ambiguity of the Voluntary Action Program ten year automatic tax abatement provisions set forth in Revised Code 5709.87. (See prior posts here and here). Three primary issues caused significant problems for developers attempting to leverage the VAP automatic tax abatement:
- How to value the abatement- The
Ohio EPA’s New Guidance Raises Stakes on Vapor Intrusion
On August 24th, Ohio EPA released new guidance that incorporates an unprecedented approach to vapor intrusion. Under the new guidance, Recommendations Regarding Response Action Levels and Timeframes for Common Contaminants of Concern at Vapor Intrusion Sites in Ohio, the Agency is for the first time demanding immediate action when contaminant levels exceed certain established
Like Ohio, TCE Gets Attention in Massachusetts
Ohio is not the only state that is reviewing all sites that have trichloroethylene (TCE) contamination. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) recently announced that is was going to review 1,000 closed sites with TCE contamination. MassDEP will evaluate the sites "based on the current understanding of health risks, even if the site was previously
Ohio EPA Takes Hard Look at Vapor Intrusion Risks
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Vapor intrusion is the process where contamination in soil and groundwater volatilizes and enters indoor air in buildings. Understanding and evaluating the risks to occupants of buildings with vapor intrusion issues has received dramatic new focus nationally in recent years.
In Ohio, scrutiny of vapor intrusion issues is at an all time high. This post
Rethinking Brownfield Redevelopment in Ohio: Part 4 of 4
This is the final post discussing the current state of brownfield redevelopment in Ohio. It provides suggested changes to the regulations and incentives in Ohio to accelerate brownfield redevelopment. The prior posts in this series discussed the following:
- The Issues Presented by Brownfields- In particular the impact to Urban Centers
- The Current State of Brownfield
Key Update on JobsOhio Revitalization Brownfield Program
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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
Ohio EPA Proposed Voluntary Action Program (VAP) Rule Changes
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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