Re: [CPEO-BIF] Reporting Phase 1 and Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessments

["Schnapf, Lawrence" <Lawrence.Schnapf@srz.com>]

and these reports collecting dust are for sites:

(1) where deals have already been done (e.g., corporate acqusitions
where the buyer has agreed to not sample and not report to avoid
bringing regulatory attention to the sites:

(2) where the transaction has already occurred and there wont be a new
deal for a while

(3) sites that have undergone redevelopment that had old tanks, dry
cleaners, PCBs from old equipment, etc and are now commercial properties
(e.g., resturants, hotels, strip malls, donut shops, affordable or
senior housing) but the REITS and others may have done minimal cleanup
without regulatory oversight 

(4) refinancings of properties where the owner has no intention of
selling in the foreseeable future.


These sites constitute the majority of contaminated sites in the country
and until current owners are incentivized or required to complete
investigations of these sites, the risk will remain unknown. If we rely
solely on the current incremental, market-based approach to addressing
these sites, most of these legacy sites wont be cleaned up for another
generation. Indeed, more brownfield sites were created in 2009 than were
cleaned up!
  
Larry
-----Original Message-----
From: brownfields-bounces@lists.cpeo.org
[mailto:brownfields-bounces@lists.cpeo.org] On Behalf Of Lenny Siegel
Sent: Sunday, November 22, 2009 2:14 PM
To: Brownfields Internet Forum
Subject: [CPEO-BIF] Reporting Phase 1 and Phase 2 Environmental Site
Assessments

One of the most valuable elements of an improved disclosure model for
site contamination would be to make Phase 1 and Phase 2 Environmental
Site Assessments, conducted most often in support of potential property
transactions, available to the public.

Critics of this suggest say that this requirement would kill deals. For
example, they say that early notice of buyer/developer intentions would
make it much more costly to aggregate property.

Could this conflict be resolved by allowing a delay in the reporting of
the site assessments? If the deal is consummated or a specified period
of time expires, then the reporting would be required. It seems that
such in approach would not only benefit public health and the
environment, but it the deal falls through, another buyer/developer
would benefit from - but still have to update - the original studies.

In addition, the requirement for reporting could be supplemented by
incentives. Those buyers/developers with a strong economic interest in
delaying reporting would skip the incentives, but those with no reason
to delay would reap some type of benefit.

A vast amount of information about potential threats to public health
has been collected in this country, but many of those studies simply
sit, collecting dust, on a shelf someplace - or consuming memory on
someone's hard drive. There should be a practical way to make it
available to the people who might be impacted by the releases of
hazardous substances documents in such studies.

Lenny

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight a project
of the Pacific Studies Center 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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