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Revoking the Migratory Bird Treaty Act Incidental Take Rule, Once Again

Last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposed rule to restore criminal penalties for accidental killing of migratory birds, revoking the January 7, 2021, final regulation that limited the enforcement of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act. “The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is a bedrock environmental law that is critical to protecting … Continue Reading

Maryland to Commit to World Economic Forum’s One Trillion Trees Initiative Tree Planting

By Stuart Kaplow on May 23, 2021 Posted in Climate Change, Codes and Regulations, Environmental

The Maryland legislature has enacted and the Governor is expected to sign legislation that will take effect on June 1, 2021 establishing aggressive state tree planting goals and a host of other initiatives rooted in trees, all in an effort to respond to climate change. While other significant climate change legislation failed to pass in … Continue Reading

Two Creeks, a Marsh and Two Lakes Sue a Florida Real Estate Developer

By Stuart Kaplow on May 9, 2021 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental

Two creeks, a marsh and two lakes are plaintiffs in a first of its kind complaint filed last month against a real estate developer and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Wilde Cypress Branch, Boggy Branch, Crosby Island Marsh, Lake Hart and Lake Mary Jane, tributaries of the Kissimmee River are seeking declaratory and injunctive … Continue Reading

Maryland Adopts 42 New Environmental Laws in 2021

By Stuart Kaplow on April 25, 2021 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental

The 442nd session of the Maryland legislature adjourned on April 12, 2021. There were no balloons dropped from the balconies at sine die, ostensibly because of Covid-19 social distancing there were no high school pages to drop celebratory balloons from the balconies, but it is worthy of note that this year the legislature passed House … Continue Reading

Covid Pandemic Exposes More Children to Toxic Lead

By Stuart Kaplow on March 21, 2021 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental

Covid-19 school closures and lockdowns resulted in thousands of children having increased blood lead levels. In a study of this consequence of Covid-19, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to describe blood lead level testing among young children during the Covid-19 pandemic, the CDC analyzed data reported from 34 state and local … Continue Reading

SEC to Update Required Climate Related Disclosures

By Stuart Kaplow on February 28, 2021 Posted in Climate Change, ESG, Federal

On February 24, acting chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Allison Herren Lee, offered insight into the future direction of mandatory climate change disclosures and new ESG regulation, when she directed the Division of Corporation Finance to enhance its focus on climate related disclosure in public company filings. The Commission provided guidance in … Continue Reading

EPA 2020 Enforcement Offers Insight

By Stuart Kaplow on February 14, 2021 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental, Federal

The Environmental Protection Agency’s has released the results of its 2020 enforcement and compliance efforts and those results offer significant insight that business can benefit from. In the first 5 months of fiscal year 2020, EPA was on track to significantly exceed traditional numeric metrics in many categories with more compliance monitoring activities in the … Continue Reading

PFAS in a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment?

By Stuart Kaplow on January 31, 2021 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental, Uncategorized

The question de riguer in commercial real estate transactions is if PFAS is included in a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment? As made clear by the January 14, 2021 EPA action, the response is “no” that the standard practice for environmental site assessments in the vast majority of places does not consider PFAS, however, .. … Continue Reading

Companies are Preparing for ESG Disclosure Rules

By Stuart Kaplow on January 24, 2021 Posted in Climate Change, Codes and Regulations

Public companies in the U.S. find themselves at a dynamic time of emergent environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) disclosures. New appointees in the Biden Administration, from the SEC and the Labor Department to the top White House economic advisor, all signal mandatory ESG disclosures. The idea of ESG began in 2004 with a United Nations … Continue Reading

Former Public Officials Indicted on Criminal Charges in Flint Water Crisis

By Stuart Kaplow on January 17, 2021 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental

Michigan prosecutors last Thursday announced that 9 individuals have been indicted on a total of 42 counts related to a series of alleged actions and inactions that created the Flint water crisis. Interestingly, the Chief Judge of the Seventh Circuit in Genesee County appointed Judge David Newblatt to act as a one-man grand jury to … Continue Reading

45L Energy Efficient Home Tax Credit Extended for 2021 by Covid Relief Bill

By Stuart Kaplow on January 10, 2021 Posted in Energy, Federal, Green Building, Green Globes, IgCC, LEED

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, H.R. 133, signed into law by President Trump on December 27th, extended the 45L energy efficient home $2,000 tax credit, which had been scheduled to expire last year, to cover qualified new energy efficient homes sold or leased through 2021. And yes, regular readers of this blog will notice that … Continue Reading

179D Tax Deduction Made Permanent by Covid Relief Bill

By Stuart Kaplow on January 3, 2021 Posted in Federal, Green Building, Green Globes, LEED

On page 4,872 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, H.R. 133, which passed both houses of Congress on December 21st and was signed into law by President Trump on December 27th, the 179D energy efficient commercial buildings federal tax deduction, which had been scheduled to expire at year end, was instead made permanent. At a … Continue Reading

The Birds: Migratory Bird Treaty Act redux without Tippi Hedren

By Stuart Kaplow on December 13, 2020 Posted in Federal, LEED, Solar Panel, wind turbine

Three weeks ago the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a regulation to finally resolve and codify the legal principal that an incidental bird take resulting from an otherwise lawful activity, for example a sparrows flies into a solar panel, is not prohibited under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Fish and Wildlife Service is … Continue Reading

Carbon Tax Proposed in Portland will be First in the Nation

By Stuart Kaplow on December 6, 2020 Posted in Climate Change, Green Globes, LEED, Local Government

The City of Portland is proposing a carbon tax that would be the first of its kind anywhere in the country. Given the increased emphasis on climate change by the incoming Biden Administration the proposed ordinance should be on your required reading list. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions are changing the climate. Energy … Continue Reading

EPA Releases Draft National Recycling Strategy

By Stuart Kaplow on November 29, 2020 Posted in Federal, IgCC, LEED, recycling

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a draft National Recycling Strategy and is seeking public comment through December 4, 2020, with the goal of finalizing it in early 2021. Maybe not since Plato wrote about the value of reusing waste in the fourth century BC has recycling faced the challenges that we are seeing right now. … Continue Reading

COVID-19 Liability for Building Owners

By Stuart Kaplow on November 15, 2020 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Legal Developments

With Covid-19 spreading across the U.S. and some places reclosing in reaction to the new surge, considered against a backdrop of more than 2,000 new statutes, regulations and executive orders addressing the pandemic that have been enacted in a matter of months, many commercial real estate owners are questioning if they can be liable for … Continue Reading

COVID–19 in Buildings is all about Ventilation

By Stuart Kaplow on November 8, 2020 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental, Local Government

This post is about what we know today about how to occupy commercial and public buildings, from offices to schools, in order to prevent the spread of the SARS-Cov-2 (the now designation for what had been the novel coronavirus 2019). If in 1992, “it’s the economy, stupid” was the phrase coined as the message of … Continue Reading

To Make Dishwashers Great Again?

By Stuart Kaplow on November 1, 2020 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental, Federal

Last Friday the U.S. Department of Energy issued a final rule effective November 30, 2020, that will once again permit American households to purchase dishwashers that actually clean dishes, as they had done for most of the machine’s 130 year history. The October 30 final rule does not force anyone to change their currently installed … Continue Reading

HREC in a Phase l is Not a Recognized Environmental Condition

By Stuart Kaplow on October 25, 2020 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental

Among the most misunderstood term in a Phase I environmental site assessment is the Historical Recognized Environmental Condition. The environmental professionals who perform these assessments by and large do not take heed of Eduardo Galeano’s quote, “History never really says goodbye. History says, ‘see you later.’” By way of background, a Phase I environmental site … Continue Reading

2018 IgCC to be Adopted in Baltimore City

By Stuart Kaplow on October 18, 2020 Posted in City, Green Building, Green Globes, IgCC

Last Monday evening an ordinance was introduced in the Baltimore City Council to adopt the 2018 International Green Construction Code. In the realm of green building this is a big deal. In the more than 4,400 code adopting jurisdictions across the country only the town of Gaithersburg, Maryland has adopted the 2018 IgCC. It is … Continue Reading

New Green Building Tax Credit is a Progressive Effort

By Stuart Kaplow on October 4, 2020 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Green Building, LEED

At a time when the building industry is principally concerned with the impact of COVID-19 and the luster is off green building, the Montgomery County Council last Tuesday unanimously approved legislation “to accelerate the construction of highly energy efficient buildings and green retrofitting of existing buildings.” Bill 10-20 dramatically upgrades the Maryland county’s existing green … Continue Reading

Maryland becomes First State to Ban Polystyrene this Thursday

By Stuart Kaplow on September 27, 2020 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental, State

During the 2019 legislative session, the Maryland General Assembly enacted what will be the first statewide ban of expanded polystyrene foam. In the Spring of 2019 law makers did not foresee a pandemic that would shift restaurant dining (not to mention school meals and much more) to carry out in transportable food containers, but today … Continue Reading

SEC Alters Environmental Disclosure Requirements for First Time in 30 Years But

By Stuart Kaplow on September 20, 2020 Posted in Climate Change, Federal

A final rule the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted on August 26, 2020 and effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register may be more significant for what is not in the rule. The rule is silent on ESG disclosures, including nary a mention of climate risk, but as described below the results … Continue Reading

I Just Read my 1000th Phase I Environmental Site Assessment this Year

By Stuart Kaplow on August 30, 2020 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental

For those concerned about the state of the environmental industrial complex during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, I can report that last Friday I reviewed my 1,000th Phase I Environmental Site Assessment this year. In context, last year I did not hit that 1,000 mark until late September, and while it is an unscientific indicator, … Continue Reading