Von Duprin LLC v Major Holdings LLC: The hard lesson of Phase I Environmental Site Assessments that Don’t Comply with Regulatory Requirements
Real estate attorneys generally know the importance of obtaining a current Phase I Environmental Site Assessment ("Phase I") as part of a real estate acquisition for a client. Doing so [...]
Lead Based Paint Enforcement Alert
EPA steps up enforcement against contractors disturbing lead paint. Given a recent EPA press release, it appears that the EPA is increasing its enforcement attention on violations of the EPA’s [...]
Re-purposing Industrial and Commercial Properties
At 8:30 am Wednesday June 6th, we’re going to try something new: we will be live blogging a breakfast round-table discussion at the Tech Shop in Dearborn. The topic of [...]
Is Legislative Support for Sustainability Initiatives on the Decline?
For the past 10 years Michigan has created a number of laws that were “sustainability oriented” – intended to promote the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Recently, however, [...]
Michigan’s Emergency Manager Could Rescind Brownfield Agreements
Your Brownfield reimbursement agreements may be in jeopardy. A new concern has been raised as to whether the broad powers granted to emergency managers could be used to terminate Brownfield [...]
Live Blog: Re-purposing Industrial Facilities
Good morning! Today we’re live blogging a panel discussion (see prior post for panelists) on redeveloping under-utilized industrial and commercial properties – a timely topic in the Metro Detroit area [...]
Written Tests Required for Operators at Underground Storage Tank (“UST”) Facilities
Pursuant to a federal mandate, Michigan has promulgated requirements that each UST facility have a Class A, Class B, and Class C operator. Operator candidates will need to pass a [...]
Interview – an Environmental Consultant’s Perspective on Industrial Property Reuse
Today’s blog features an interview I had with Doug McDowell of McDowell & Associates regarding the increased focus on using abandoned industrial sites for business incubators in urban areas. Although [...]
Vapor Intrusion Assessment – an Overview
Introduction Redevelopment of contaminated land and land adjacent to contaminated sites can be a relatively straightforward process when you work with a good environmental consultant that understands the special risks [...]
Great Lakes Week – Cleveland
Unlike other parts of the country (or the world for that matter), people living in and around the Great Lakes are very cognizant of both the unique benefits the Great [...]
Regulating Runoff From Logging Roads
The only U.S. Supreme Court case on the Court’s Fall docket relating to an environmental matter is Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center. In this case (which was consolidated with [...]
Revisions to the Federal Trade Commission “green Guides”
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on October 1, 2012 released the revised “Green Guides“, which is designed to help marketers with describing the environmental attributes of their products, so that [...]
Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement 2012
In 1972, United States and Canada signed the first Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). In September 7, 2013, forty years later GLWQA-4, was signed by Canada and the United [...]
Justice Department Appeals Ruling on Epa’s Final Mine Waste Guidance
The EPA has been dealt yet another blow to its process of handling surface mining permits. In National Mining Association v. Jackson, the U.S. District Court for the District of [...]
New Michigan Business Courts May Play Important Role in Resolving Environmental Disputes
Governor Rick Snyder recently signed Public Act 333 (the “Business Court Act”), establishing a separate business court in Michigan. These courts will provide a unique forum for resolving complex disputes [...]
New Mdeq Database – Recorded Restrictive Covenants
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) Remediation Division in conjunction with the recommendations from the Collaborative Stakeholders Initiative (CSI) have undertaken a mapping program for plotting all the recorded [...]
Congress Extends Wind Energy Tax Credit
Late Wednesday night, President Obama signed a bill that, among other things, extended wind energy tax credits for one year. The Wind Energy Production Tax Credit (“PTC”) and other related [...]
Is It Clean? – Michigan Certificates of Completion and No Further Action Letters
On December 22, 2012 Governor Snyder signed Senate Bill 1328 which became effective on December 27, 2012. The Bill amended portions of Part 201 of Michigan’s Natural Resources and Environmental [...]
Nhtsa: Electric Cars Need to Be Noisier
On Monday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed a rule that would require electric vehicles to be noisier. Apparently what 99% of the populace would probably consider to [...]
A Supreme Court Case to Keep an Eye on: Tarrant Regional Water District V Herrmann
The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear arguments in the matter of Tarrant Regional Water District v. Herrmann, No. 11-889 (S.Ct, filed January 19, 2012; cert. granted January 4, 2013). [...]
