January 17, 2012
SPR principals Daniel Rieseland Pamela Esterman will serve as co-chairs of the upcoming 42nd annual Environmental Law Course of Study, to be held on February 1-3, 2012 in Washington, DC, co-sponsored by ALI-ABA and the Environmental Law Institute. The course features advanced-level presentations by a diverse faculty from government, universities, private practice and advocacy organizations on legislative initiatives, regulatory changes, and recent judicial precedent concerning air, water, hazardous materials, endangered species, public lands, environmental permitting and review, international environmental law, and environmental justice. This year, the course will also feature panels on setting environmental standards, environmental enforcement, the environmental regulation of energy, and ethics for environmental lawyers. If you are unable to attend in person, this CLE is also available via video webcast. For more detailed information, please visit the course website.
December 19, 2011
We are very pleased to announce that Jennifer Coghlan has become an SPR Partner.
Jennifer regularly works with landowners, developers, consultants and engineers to successfully guide development projects through environmental review processes under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) andNew York City’s Environmental Quality Review (CEQR). She frequently advises clients with respect to remediation of contaminated sites and brownfield redevelopment, and has litigated claims for recovery of remediation costs under the federal Superfund Law (CERCLA), the federal hazardous waste law (RCRA), and the New York State Navigation Law. Jennifer also has extensive experience in federal, state, and local permitting processes, including those of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Army Corps of Engineers, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the New York State Office of General Services, the New York State Department of State and the City of New York.
December 13, 2011
On Wednesday, February 15, 2012, SPR partner Michael Bogin will be an instructor in a seminar addressing legal issues faced by New York landscape architects. Mr. Bogin’s presentation will cover federal and states rules governing stormwater management. For more information about the seminar, which is offered by HalfMoon LLC, please click here.
December 12, 2011
We are pleased to announce that Christopher Amato has joined our firm and will be working in our newly opened Albany, NY office. Chris was most recently Assistant Commissioner for Natural Resources at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. He has practiced environmental law for more than 30 years, both in private practice and in government service. His public service includes having been Deputy Chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau in the New York State Attorney General’s Office, Senior Litigator in the Environmental Law Division of the New York City Law Department, and Senior Attorney with the Adirondack Park Agency. In both his private practice and government service, Chris has tried complex litigation, including important hazardous waste matters. Chris has also worked as a biologist for the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Chris will again be focusing on environmental litigation and natural resources issues, including hydrofracking, endangered species, wetlands and marine fisheries. He also will be working on environmental, cultural resource, and treaty rights issues and litigation on behalf of several Indian Nations in New York.
With Michael Lesser and Chris in our Albany office, we have an efficient and cost effective method of representing our clients in hazardous waste litigation and to better serve clients on a broad range of issues.
The Albany office is located at 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207. The office phone number is (518) 591-4663.
December 7, 2011
Developers of brownfield sites are required to file an annual report with the Tax Department (DTF-70). The report is first due within one year after the execution of a Brownfield Cleanup Agreement and for 11 years thereafter. The annual reporting period covers all activity occurring on the site from December 1 through November 30. The report is due by December 31 of each year.
For more information about reporting requirements associated with the Brownfield Cleanup Program, contact Jennifer Coghlan.
October 17, 2011
Last week, the White House announced the selection of New York’s Tappan Zee Bridge and 13 other priority infrastructure projects for expedited federal permitting and environmental review. Sive, Paget & Riesel is serving as special environmental counsel on the Tappan Zee Hudson River Crossing Project, which is evaluating the proposed replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge.
According to the White House, the projects were chosen because they are “high priority infrastructure projects that will create a significant number of jobs, have already identified necessary funding, and … the significant steps remaining before construction are within the control and jurisdiction of the federal government and can be completed within 18 months.” The announcement follows an August 2011 Presidential Memorandum directing federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation, to identify proposals for expedited and coordinated environmental review.
By improving coordination among federal agencies, reducing duplicative review and allowing reviews to be done concurrently, the White House expects to reduce the permitting process for the Tappan Zee Bridge by two and a half years. The Presidential Memorandum also calls for progress on these 14 projects to be tracked on a central website, which will provide information on outstanding government approvals and anticipated completion dates.
The Tappan Zee Bridge was built in 1950, and it costs the state $100 million annually for upkeep and repair. New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo called the recent announcement “a shot in the arm for the [Tappan Zee Hudson River Crossing] project and a major step forward to restoring this key piece of infrastructure and putting tens of thousands of New Yorkers back to work.” The project is currently being reviewed under the National Environmental Policy Act, and construction could begin as soon as 2013.
July 27, 2011
New York City’s Local Law 84 of 2009 (the “Benchmarking Law”) requires owners of certain privately-owned buildings to submit their first annual benchmark of total energy and water use by 11:59 pm on Monday, August 1, 2011. The law requires benchmark reporting to be completed by May 1 of each year, but the New York City Department of Buildings’ recently adopted Benchmarking Rule states that, for 2011, no penalties will be assessed due to failure to comply until August 1. Starting in 2012, reports will be due by May 1. Reported data will be made available to the public beginning in 2012 for non-residential buildings and in 2013 for residential buildings.
Covered buildings include:
- any building that exceeds 50,000 gross square feet (“gsf”);
- two or more buildings on the same tax lot that together exceed 100,000 gsf; or
- two or more condominium buildings that are governed by the same board of managers and that together exceed 100,000 gsf.
Square footage is determined based on the records of the New York City Department of Finance. Covered buildings should have received a notice from the Department of Finance in December 2010. In addition, the City has published a list of the buildings it believes to be subject to the Benchmarking Law.
To comply with the Benchmarking Law, owners of covered buildings must solicit information on energy usage from non-residential tenants, but are not required to do so for residential tenants. Benchmarking of water use is not required unless the building was equipped with automatic meter reading equipment by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection for the entirety of the previous calendar year.
Benchmarking reports must be submitted to the City electronically using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) Portfolio Manager Tool. Owners of multiple buildings should pay special attention to EPA’s instructions before entering information to ensure that reports are not overwritten by later entries.
The Benchmarking Law is part of New York City’s Greener, Greater Buildings Plan. A component of the Citywide environmental initiative PlanNYC2030, the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan strives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030.
For more information on the Benchmarking Law, please contact SPR partner Dan Chorost. To learn more about green building trends beyond New York City, please see Dan’s May 2011 article on this topic.
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