I gave a presentation titled “Biblical Origins of Environmental Ethics” at the 35th annual meeting of the Environmental Law Section of the New York State Bar Association on January 29th. One might ask what could a 3000-year old religious document that was developed for an agrarian society could conceivably have to say about modern 21st […]
Biblical Origins of Environmental Ethics Presentation Read More »
The New York State Court of Appeals held that a PRP letter issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) was sufficient to trigger an indemnity obligation under a purchase and sale agreement. While lower courts have found PRP letters to constitute “suits” within the meaning of a Comprehensive General Liability policy
NY Court of Appeals Finds PRP Letter Triggers Contractual Indemnification Read More »
One of the important changes of the 2015 BCP amendments was that Class 2 sites on the State Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites (the state superfund list) as well as RCRA sites may now be eligible for the BCP if the applicant is a volunteer and the NYSDEC has determined no financially viable
NY State Court Upholds Denial of BCP Application Read More »
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) has made extensive changes to its regulations pertaining to the handling and storage of petroleum and hazardous substances. Specificially, the revisions were made to the Petroleum Bulk Storage (PBS) regulations (6 NYCRR Parts 612-614), the Chemical Bulk Storage regulations (6 NYCRR Parts 596-599), the Used Oil
NYSDEC Adopts Revised Petroleum and Hazardous Substance Bulk Storage Regulations Read More »
Parties to commercial leasing transactions frequently overlook environmental issues because they believe that tenants who do not use large quantities of hazardous chemicals will not be exposed to significant environmental liability. Consequently, the parties may do little to no environmental due diligence and use obsolete or boilerplate lease provision that do not specifically allocate environmental
Principal New York State Environmental Laws Impacting Commercial Leasing Transactions Read More »
Back in mid-November, the New York City Office of Environmental Remediation (OER) participated in a brownfield conference sponsored by the Environmental Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. In a series of presentations, OER provided an update on the various initiatives it has created to help facilitate the redevelopment of contaminated properties in
OER’s Suite of Tools To Facilitate Brownfield Development Read More »
The NYC Board of Standards and Appeals (Board) granted a variance to facilitate construction of a four-story residential building in Marine Park, Brooklyn because of the costs to remediate soil contamination associated with historic uses at the development parcel. (BSA Bulletin No. 15, Vol. 100, BSA calendar no. 254-13-BZ, CEQR #14BSA032K) The Department of Buildings
NYC Board of Standards and Appeals Grants Zoning Variance Due to Cleanup Costs Read More »
As we have previously discussed, the 2015 Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) reforms that removed the tangible property cost (TPC) tax credit as an “as of right” benefit for NYC brownfield sites required NYSDEC to issue proposed definitions of “underutilized” and “affordable housing” by mid-June and to finalize the definitions by October 1st. The agency met
DEC Misses Deadline for Finalizing Underutilized Definition Read More »
One of our more popular posts (based on views) has been the 2013 discussion on EPA’s reinterpretation of the regulatory status of building materials that are contaminated by migration of PCBs from PCB bulk product waste as a PCB remediation waste. EPA recently released revised guidance which consists of the following documents: PCBs in Building Materials—Questions &
Has EPA Engaged In Stealth Rollback of School PCB Safequards? Read More »
As anyone who has gone through the New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) is all too aware, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) has an important role in the cleanup process. The NYSDOH is responsible for determining that work completed under the NYSDEC remedial programs are protective of public health for the
NYSDOH Lowers Vapor Intrusion Action Levels for TCE Read More »