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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

2018 IgCC Poised to be Adopted for the First Time

By Stuart Kaplow on August 9, 2020 Posted in Green Building, IgCC, LEED, Local Government

Montgomery County, Maryland is on the cusp of being the first to adopt the 2018 International Green Construction Code. The proposed Executive Regulation 12-20 appeared in the Montgomery County Register on August 1. A public hearing will be held on proposed regulation on September 3. And written comments may be submitted until October 5. Montgomery … Continue Reading

EPA Proposes First Greenhouse Gas Emissions Limits for Aircraft

By Stuart Kaplow on July 26, 2020 Posted in Climate Change, Environmental, Federal

Last Wednesday the Environmental Protection Agency proposed greenhouse gas emissions standards for airplanes used in commercial aviation and large business jets. “This standard is the first time the U.S. has ever proposed regulating greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft,” according to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. And as much as I have railed against more and regressive environmental … Continue Reading

New Lead (Pb) in Soil Standard Now Effective in Maryland

By Stuart Kaplow on July 12, 2020 Posted in Environmental, State

The EPA has described lead as the number one environmental public health hazard in the U.S. And despite that the CDC has in the past identified childhood lead poisoning prevention since 1971 as 1 of 10 great U.S. public health achievements which has included success in reducing human exposures on average, the amount of lead … Continue Reading

New Maryland Real Estate Laws from the 2020 Legislative Session

By Stuart Kaplow on June 7, 2020 Posted in Codes and Regulations, State

The 71 day session of the Maryland General Assembly was for the first time since the Civil War cut short from the prescribed 90 days (.. of note, the legislature has met for 90 days since the predecessor, appointed not elected, General Assembly of Maryland was first called together in 1635 in St. Mary’s). Despite … Continue Reading

COVID-19 and the Risk from Recirculated Air in Buildings

By Stuart Kaplow on April 29, 2020 Posted in Environmental, Green Building, State

The Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Associations (REHVA) has in recent days issued guidance on how to occupy commercial and public buildings, from offices to schools, “in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.” As Americans begin to end coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdowns, which were of course intended to keep … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Permits State Law Claims Against Superfund Property

By Stuart Kaplow on April 26, 2020 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental

In an instructive environmental law decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the federal Superfund statute (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act) does not preclude owners of adjacent contaminated land from pursuing state laws claims for money damages for nuisance, trespass and strict liability, but any cleanup of that land cannot … Continue Reading

Maryland is First State to Legislate Permitted Use of PFAS

By Stuart Kaplow on April 19, 2020 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental

Prior to the just concluded session of the Maryland legislature, the State’s laws and regulations were silent with regard to PFAS chemicals including PFOA. At worst, Maryland could have been criticized along with the Federal government and other states, for failing to regulate PFAS as a hazardous substance. But then, some days ago Maryland did … Continue Reading

Maryland Enacts New Environmental Laws in 2020

By Stuart Kaplow on April 7, 2020 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental, State

The 440th session of the Maryland General Assembly commenced on January 8, 2020. The 90 day session was, for the first time since the Civil War cut short, ending three weeks early (.. of note, the predecessor, appointed not elected, General Assembly of Maryland was first called together in 1635 in St. Mary’s for 90 … Continue Reading