RE: [CPEO-BIF] Report from the All Appropriate Inquiry October meeting

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

In case you were wondering what UECA is:

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http://www.environmentalcovenants.org/ueca/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=4&tabid=50

March 2003 Press Release
National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
211 E. Ontario Street, Suite 1300, Chicago, IL  60611
312/915-0195, Fax 312/915-0187, www.nccusl.org

THE UNIFORM ENVIRONMENTAL COVENANTS ACT NEARS COMPLETION

March 24, 2003 – An important new law is being drafted that will provide
clear rules for state agencies to create, enforce and modify a valid
real estate document – an “environmental covenant” – to restrict the use
of contaminated real estate.  The Uniform Environmental Covenants Act
(UECA) is currently being drafted by the National Conference of
Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL); it is scheduled for final
approval at NCCUSL’s 112th Annual Meeting, August 1-7, in Washington,
D.C.

An environmental covenant is typically used when it is necessary to
clean up contaminated property to a level determined by the
environmental risks posed, rather than to unrestricted use standards.
While the general goal of most cleanups is to return the site to a
condition where it can be safely used for any purpose, this is not
always technically possible or economically practicable.  When a site is
not cleaned up completely, use restrictions may be used to supplement
cleanup measures.

UECA applies traditional real estate law principles to these
environmental covenants to ensure that land use restrictions will be
reflected on the land records and effectively enforced over time against
successive owners of the property.

Equally important, this Act can help return previously contaminated
property, often located in urban areas, to the stream of commerce,
reducing the dangers such contamination poses to our citizens, and
improving the quality of the environment in which we live.

A new website devoted to the UECA project has recently been launched.
Go to www.environmentalcovenants.org for up-to-date information,
including drafts, on this drafting project.

The drafting committee on UECA is chaired by William R. Breetz, Jr., of
Hartford, Connecticut.  Other committee members include:  Marion W.
Benfield, Jr., New Braunfels, Texas; David D. Biklen, Hartford,
Connecticut; Stephen C. Cawood, Pineville, Kentucky; Bruce A.
Coggeshall, Portland, Maine; Theodore C. Kramer, Brattleboro, Vermont;
Larry L. Ruth, Lincoln, Nebraska; Hiroshi Sakai, Honolulu, Hawaii;
Yvonne L. Tharpes, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; and Michele L.
Timmons, St. Paul, Minnesota.  Kurt Strasser of Hartford, Connecticut,
serves as the committee’s reporter.

The drafting committee recently met in Washington, D.C.  This summer,
the Act will be presented for final consideration at the NCCUSL Annual
Meeting.

The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws is now in
its 112th year.  The organization comprises more than 300 lawyers,
judges, and law professors, appointed by the states as well as the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to draft
proposals for uniform and model laws and work toward their enactment in
their legislatures.  Since its inception in 1892, the group has
promulgated more than 200 acts, among them such bulwarks of state
statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code,
and the Uniform Partnership Act.

For further information on the Uniform Environmental Covenants Act,
please contact Michael Kerr or Katie Robinson at 312/915-0195.

© 2003 Uniform Environmental Covenants Act
211 E. Ontario Street, Suite 1300
Chicago, Illinois 60611

tel: (312) 915-0195 | fax: (312)915-0187 | e-mail: ueca@nccusl.org

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