So now you've selected your property and have a proper purchase and sale agreement in place; what do you do next?A. Protecting Yourself from Potential LiabilityUnder CERCLA (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) there is a broad...
Year: 2012
EPA Proposes Limits on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Power Plants
On April 13, 2012, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its proposed a draft New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) regulation under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) that will cover carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new sources in the...
Environmental Due Diligence in Real Estate Transactions Blog Series: Part II – Contract of Sale of Real Property
In our first post in this blog series, we explained exactly what is meant by the term "environmental due diligence" in real estate transactions and discussed some of the "tools" of environmental due diligence. In this post, we'll cover in detail one of those tools:...
Conservation Buffer Sufficient to Defeat Petitioners’ Standing to Challenge Proposed Development
In a decision that highlights how strictly trial courts are construing the standing of prospective plaintiffs or petitioners, a State Supreme Court justice in Westchester County recently held that because of a land conservation buffer between existing homes and a...
Environmental Due Diligence in Real Estate Transactions Blog Series: Part I – Introduction
This blog series is based on an article written by James J. Periconi and published in the Winter 2008 Bloomberg Corporate News Journal. Mr. Periconi also discusses the details and the nuances of environmental due diligence of commercial real estate transactions in his...
Supreme Court Holds That Pre-Enforcement Judicial Review of EPA Administrative Orders Is Allowed
The Supreme Court of the United States has just unanimously ruled that administrative orders issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") under section 319 of the Clean Water Act ("CWA") are "final agency actions" subject to judicial review under the...
Court Allows Town’s Trespass and Strict Liability Claims against Neighboring Company to Go Forward
In a recent opinion, Town of Windsor v. Avery Dennison Corp., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27264 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 1, 2012), the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York allowed a town's claims of strict liability for ultrahazardous activities and...
“Fracking NY” Blog Series: Part 6 – Courts Uphold Two Local Zoning Bans on Fracking in New York State – Town of Dryden (Part I)
So far in the "Fracking NY Blog Series," we've outlined state, interstate, and federal regulation of high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking"). We now turn to yet another layer of potential regulation of fracking in New...
Under CERCLA, Responsible Parties Liable for Future Clean-Up Costs
In State v. Solvent Chemical Co., 10-2026-cv (2nd Cir. Dec. 19, 2011), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that Solvent Chemical Company ("Solvent") could obtain a declaratory judgment that two adjacent property owners were responsible for future costs incurred...
Revised Standards for Phase II Environmental Site Assessments
So far, in the Environmental Law Blog, we've discussed what to do before you purchase a contaminated property (see here) and what to do after you've purchased a contaminated property (see here), but there is a step that often takes place...