Larry Schnapf

New OER Brownfield Incentive Grant (BIG) Program To Be Limited By Project Size

Brownfields, NYC OER / By

We previously discussed that the New York City Office of Environmental Remediation (OER) Brownfield Incentive Grant (BIG) program had become fully subscribed meaning that all of the funds appropriated for the program have been committed to projects. OER has been working on obtaining additional appropriation to fund new BIG applications. The good news is that OER has recently […]

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CMBS Special Servicer May Not Recover VI Test Costs Under Environmental Indemnity

Corporate and Real Estate Transactions, Environmental Due Diligence, Lender Liability, vapor intrusion / By

Earlier this year, we discussed   the federal district ruling in Orix Capital Markets, LLC v Cadlerocks Centennial Drive, LLC, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48424 (D. Mass. 4/2/13) where a special servicer was allowed to pursue a guarantor despite the presence of an environmental insurance policy and was awarded over $100K in environmental investigation costs. This

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NYC OER To Issue Environmental Review and Assessment (ERA) letters

Brownfields, Corporate and Real Estate Transactions, Environmental Due Diligence, NYC OER / By

One of the key challenges facing purchasers of contaminated property is that the Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser, Contiguous Property Owner and Innocent Purchaser liability protections that are available under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) and similar state laws are self implementing. While EPA may occasionally enter into a

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New York’s Quirky Rules for Heating Oil Storage Tanks

Corporate and Real Estate Transactions, Environmental Due Diligence, Navigation Law, oil spills, Underground Storage Tanks / By

Storage tanks used for the storage of heating oil for on-site consumptive use are excluded from federal underground storage tank (UST) program.  However, a number states including New York regulate heating oil tanks. There are approximately 3 million residential heating oil tanks in New York State. While home heating oil tanks for single family homes

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NYSDEC Proposes Changes to Petroleum and Hazardous Substance Storage Tank Regs

Corporate and Real Estate Transactions, Navigation Law, oil spills, Underground Storage Tanks / By

During the summer, NYSDEC issued draft revised regulations to its Petroleum Bulk Storage (PBS), the Major Oil Storage Facility (MOSF) program and the Chemical Bulk Storage (CBS) program. The revisions are intended to make the PBS and CBS regulations consistent with the federal underground storage (UST) regulations codified at 40 CFR Part 280 so that

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Should Consultants Use ASTM E1527-13 Prior to EPA Recognition?

CERCLA, Corporate and Real Estate Transactions, Environmental Due Diligence / By

On November 6th, ASTM announced that it has published its E1527-13 Phase 1 Standard for Environmental Site Assessments. Upon publication of a new ASTM standard, the prior version becomes obsolete. In a normal transition, environmental consultants would transition to using the new E1527 version like they did with the E1527-94, E1527-97 and E1527-00. However, this is not

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NYSDEC Adds New Categories of Sites To Database To Chagrin of Some Property Owners

Corporate and Real Estate Transactions, Disclosure of Environmental Liabilities, Environmental Due Diligence, Hazardous Waste, New York Brownfield Cleanup Program, oil spills / By

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) recently announced that it had added approximately 1,950 sites to its Environmental Site Remediation Database Search database of sites that are subject to one of the agency’s remedial programs. The  NYSDEC said it was adding these additional sites to facilitate real estate transactions and address the

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You Say “Removal”, I Say “Remedial”

CERCLA / By

In 1990, a municipality in Long Island installed a granulated activated carbon (“GAC”) adsorption system at a cost of $1.25MM to remove volatile organic compounds (“VOCs”) that had been detected in two public drinking water wells. When the GAC proved ineffective in reducing the VOCs to the maximum contaminant levels (MCLs), the municipality commenced construction

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NYS Tax Department Rules on Eligibility of Post-COC Costs for BCP Tax Credits

Brownfields, New York Brownfield Cleanup Program / By

During the Great Recession, many brownfield sites in the lost their project financing. In New York, sites that were remediated and received a Certificate of Completion (COC) remain valuable because owners have ten years to develop the sites and claim the lucrative qualified tangible property (QTP) tax credit (explained below). As market conditions have stabilized,

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CERCLA “Discovery Rule” Playing Important Role in Toxic Tort Cases

CERCLA, common law, Environmental Due Diligence, vapor intrusion / By

State statutes of limitations (SOL) establish the time period when an injured party may bring a lawsuit seeking compensation for damages. In general, the SOL “clock” will start when a claim “accrues” (e.g. when all of the required elements of the cause of action have been satisfied. Because of the long latency period between exposure

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