RE: [CPEO-BIF] Sarbanes-Oxley & de-mothballing

["Frink, Neal" <NFRINK@DINSLAW.com>]

SOX was given teeth relative to warehoused/mothballed sites with
issuance of FIN 47 ("Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations - An
Interpretation of FASB Statement 143").  FIN 47, which issued in March
2005, was effective for fiscal years ending after December 2005.  The
requirement for publicly traded companies to account for AROs should
have been some impetus for unloading some of the "inventory" of
mothballed/warehoused sites.  I'm just not sure how one measures the
impact.  It would be interesting to compare booked AROs pre- and
post-issuance of FIN 47 for some select companies.  Maybe someone from
the accounting world can shed light on how visible AROs are on publicly
available balance sheets for publicly traded companies.   - NEAL

Neal A. Frink, Esq.
Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP
1900 Chemed Center
255 East Fifth Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
 
513.977.8359 (phone)
513.977.8141 (fax)
www.dinslaw.com

-----Original Message-----
From: brownfields-bounces@list.cpeo.org
[mailto:brownfields-bounces@list.cpeo.org] On Behalf Of Kris Wernstedt
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2007 10:38 AM
To: brownfields@list.cpeo.org
Subject: [CPEO-BIF] Sarbanes-Oxley & de-mothballing

Bob,

I've had a fair number of developers or developer reps tell me in
interviews
that they'd welcome enforcement efforts or drivers like SOX to get more
properties out on the market, but it's all been anecdotal (and some off
the
record).  I'd love to conduct a more systematic assessment of how this
might
bear out in practice, or even get a better sense how many warehoused
properties owned by public companies might be affected by this.

This is a great interest of mine and I also would like to hear what
practitioners and others on this list think.  So let's hear some
chatter.

Kris

*************************************
Kris Wernstedt
Urban Affairs and Planning
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Alexandria Center
1021 Prince Street, Suite 200
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
703-706-8132 (voice), 703-518-8009 (fax) krisw@vt.edu,
www.uap.vt.edu/thePeople.htm
*************************************
  

> -----Original Message-----
> From: brownfields-bounces@list.cpeo.org 
> [mailto:brownfields-bounces@list.cpeo.org] On Behalf Of 
> bobh@np.craigslist.org
> Sent: Friday, June 01, 2007 9:50 AM
> To: brownfields@list.cpeo.org
> Subject: [CPEO-BIF] Sarbanes-Oxley Act putting mothballed sites on 
> market
> 
> The article claims that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, at least in the Bay 
> Area in California, is compelling companies to put warehoused 
> brownfield sites on the
> market.   I'd be interested to know if CPEO subscribers, 
> based on their own
> brownfields practice and experiences, would tend to agree with this 
> assessment about Sarbanes-Oxley.
> 
> Bob Hersh
> CPEO
> 
> Brownfield Market Conditions Improving
> 
> Commercial Property News
> May 31, 2007
> By Ethan Fry
> 
> A self-described "recovering banker" kicked off CPN's San Francisco 
> Property Opportunities conference Thursday by saying a "perfect storm"

> of positive conditions will make brownfield rehabilitation much more 
> attractive to developers and investors.
> 
> Peter Hollingworth, president & CEO of Continental Environmental 
> Redevelopment Financial L.L.C., said during his keynote address that 
> among the main positive factors are improving political conditions, 
> more realistic expectations from regulatory bodies, better technology 
> and improving public awareness.
> 
> ...In addition, Hollingworth noted, more sites are coming on the 
> market because of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that prohibits companies from

> warehousing brownfield sites and forces them to put them--and the cost

> associated with cleaning them up--on their balance sheets.
> 
> For the entire article, see:
> http://www.cpnonline.com/cpn/specialties/article_display.jsp?v
> nu_content_id=1003592453

*************************************
Kris Wernstedt
Urban Affairs and Planning
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Alexandria Center
1021 Prince Street, Suite 200
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
703-706-8132 (voice), 703-518-8009 (fax) krisw@vt.edu,
www.uap.vt.edu/thePeople.htm
*************************************


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