[CPEO-BIF] New Life for Closed Gas Stations Conference & Exhibition Kicks Off in Two Days (June 4, 2014)

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

> From: Michael Goldstein <MGoldstein@Goldsteinenvlaw.com>
> Date: June 2, 2014 9:46:24 AM PDT
>
> One last email regarding this important conference in the two days  
> before the first session convenes to give you a very detailed  
> understanding of the scope of the program and how it may be of  
> benefit.
>
> The program is designed to tell a detailed but very practical story  
> about how to best and most cost-efficiently repurpose closed gas  
> stations (almost always contaminated) and incorporate them into any  
> one of several dozen different end-uses or combinations of end- 
> uses.   We do this by first looking at the architecture and  
> mechanics of gas stations; that is, how they’re put together and  
> designed to function safely and efficiently (1 hr).  We then pivot  
> and begin to tell the tale of what happens when gas stations break  
> down; that is, common causes of discharge and sources of  
> contamination (1 hr) and what happens in the subsurface when  
> contamination is released (1 hr).  We then explore cost-effective  
> strategies for pre-acquisition due diligence of closed gas station;  
> that is, where would you want to look to find areas of  
> contamination and what methodologies would you use and why (1 hr).
>
> We’ll next spend some time carefully evaluating gas station cleanup  
> strategies and costs, with an emphasis on trying to understand how  
> to tailor a technical cleanup remedy to the anticipated reuse in  
> order to save money (45 minutes).   We’ll also have a lengthy  
> discussion on how cleanup costs and technologies can be seamlessly  
> folded into construction, so seamlessly that in many cases it may  
> be impossible to distinguish between the construction activity and  
> the cleanup strategy, which could provide for dramatic cost savings  
> (1 hr). To supplement that discussion, the next session will focus  
> entirely on budgeting for cleanup costs and incremental  
> construction costs caused by contamination (1 hr).
>
> In the final session on the first day, US EPA officials from  
> Washington D.C. and several regional offices across the country  
> will discuss the federal regulatory and economic incentive programs  
> that have been developed and successfully implemented over the past  
> 15 years to limit cost and manage legal liability at closed gas  
> station reuse projects (45 minutes).  To properly frame this  
> discussion, earlier in the day, Carolyn Hoskinson,  the US EPA  
> Director of the Office of Underground Storage Tanks, will present  
> the Keynote.
>
> The second day will kick off with an address from one of US EPA’s  
> chief economic policy analysts and advisors, who will provide a  
> broad overview of economic development market conditions across the  
> country as well as dozens of case studies where private and public  
> sectors partners have pulled from various capital sources,  
> including public financing sources, to render otherwise difficult  
> projects feasible (45 minutes).  The next session will involve more  
> insight and guidance from the US EPA Petroleum Brownfields program  
> on regulatory assistance and agency partnering opportunities (1  
> hr).   From that point forward, we’ll start to get into the various  
> elements of planning, design and reuse.
>
> We’ll have a primer on preventing vapor intrusion at redeveloped  
> gas station sites (45 minutes), an important discussion on proper  
> stormwater management issues (30 minutes), and insight from the  
> private sector and from a state regulatory official on the use of  
> deed restrictions and engineering controls to allow for residual  
> contamination to remain in place, thus lowering cleanup and  
> construction costs (45 minutes).
>
> At this point, we pivot again and begin to look at specific types  
> of closed gas station reuse projects.  In the first reuse session,  
> we’ll have a focus on retail, commercial, and housing (50 minutes),  
> in the second a focus on health care (40 minutes), in the third a  
> focus on community parks and gardens, and in the fourth a focus on  
> alternate energy, like CNG, solar, electric, and biodiesel (45  
> minutes).  Finally, we’ll wrap up the day with important roundtable  
> discussions that explore gas station redevelopment opportunities  
> from the developers’ perspective (45 minutes) and then from the  
> lenders’ (1 hr).
>
> The Keynote presentation for the second day will be given by  
> Elizabeth Schilling with Smart Growth America. Elizabeth is one of  
> the principal authors of “From Vacancy to Vibrancy: A Guide to  
> Redeveloping UST Sites through Area-wide Planning.”   Another  
> featured speaker on this second day is Caley Johnson, with the US  
> Dept. of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab, the principal  
> author of “Guide for Identifying and Converting High-Potential  
> Petroleum Brownfield Sites to Alternative Fuel Stations.”
>
> The third and final day of the program provides an emphasis on  
> liability identification, analysis, and management.  The program  
> kicks off with an important policy address from the Director of  
> Waste Management for the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection,  
> who is intending to discuss the ongoing and future initiatives of  
> the Governor Scott administration to incentivize and reward the  
> investment of private capital in cleanup, redevelopment, and reuse  
> of closed gas station sites (30 minutes).  The next presentation  
> will be a facilitated dialogue between the largest owner of  
> independent gas stations in New York City and his counsel to  
> illuminate the many interconnected planning, design, engineering,  
> liability, schedule, and budget issues they’ve had to overcome as  
> the company converts its portfolio of gas stations sites into high- 
> end retail, commercial, and mixed use projects (45 minutes).    
> We’ll then work through a series of environmental legal  
> presentations from some of the top private sector and state  
> regulatory agency lawyers in the country (45 min., 30 min., and 45  
> minutes), with a specific emphasis on the actions to take and to  
> avoid in the context of redeveloping contaminated gas station sites  
> specifically and contaminated construction sites generally.
>
> The program will conclude its discussion on legal liability  
> management with two in-depth presentation on environmental  
> insurance.  We’ll first have a representative from AIG provide a  
> general survey of the environmental insurance products that are  
> available for reuse of closed gas station sites and then offer  
> personal insight into the state of the environmental insurance  
> marketplace (45 minutes).  In the second session, one of the most  
> effective brokers we’ve ever worked with will walk the conference  
> through the nuts and bolts of negotiating coverages, drafting  
> endorsements, and limiting premiums (45 minutes).
>
> In addition to the 9 US EPA representatives either attending or  
> speaking, we’ll have over a dozen environmental agency  
> representatives from the following states:
>
> ·         Alabama
> ·         Connecticut
> ·         Florida
> ·         Indiana
> ·         Minnesota
> ·         Rhode Island
>
> A copy of the educational program is attached above, and the  
> conference agenda can be accessed by clicking here:  https:// 
> www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/qkpccv.  To register, click here:  
> www.closedgasstationconference.com.
>
> While we believe the educational offerings alone create tremendous  
> value, we are equally excited about the networking, bridge- 
> building, and business generation opportunities that will exist  
> throughout the conference as a result of the diversity of  
> backgrounds, perspectives, and constituencies reflected by those  
> who have registered to date.
>
> We hope to see you in Orlando this week.  However, if you can’t  
> make it and would be interested in the materials, please let us know.
>
> Best regards,
> Michael
>
> Michael R. Goldstein, Esq.
> The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A.
> One SE Third Avenue, Suite 2120
> Miami, FL 33131
> Direct Telephone: (305) 777-1682
> Cell Phone: (305) 962-7669
> Facsimile: (305) 777-1681
> Email: mgoldstein@goldsteinenvlaw.com


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