The NYCBP created a Legislative/Regulatory Committee Part 360 Task Force (the “Task Force”) to comment on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (the “NYSDEC” or “Department”) Revised Proposed Regulations for Solid Waste Management Facilities (the “Proposed Regulations”). Those comments can be read here.

The attendance numbers were amazing.  Members of the NYC Brownfield Partnership (NYCBP) and Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast  (BCONE) were there!  Can you pick them out of the photo?

The brainstorming session produced this action plan: many of the topics will sound familiar to attendees of the Women in Environmental Professions sessions held by BCONE, NYCBP, SWEP and LSRPA.

1. Get to the microphone; 
2. Get on Boards; 
3. Promote each other; 
4. Send up flares and ask for help; 
5. Stay focused; 
6. Delegate; 
7. Be the community voice; 
8. Value women; 
9. Youth to rise up; 
10. Get the most out of formal professional organizations:  write articles; post on social media; mentor; join the leadership.

Our next Women in Environmental Professions virtual event is being held on November 1, 2022.  Join us.

Sue Boyle recently submitted a letter on behalf of the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporations’ (SoBro’s) application for an EPA Brownfields Job Training grant. SoBro is proposing to train 125 unemployed and underemployed residents 18-years and older from the South Bronx over the five-year life of the grant. You can read the letter here. 

The NYCBP Executive Director, Sue Boyle, recently wrote a letter in support of St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development Center’s proposal for the U.S. EPA’s Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training program. The letter can be viewed here.

Executive Director for the New York City Brownfield Partnership (NYCBP), Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast (BCONE), and the Licensed Site Remediation Professionals Association (LSRPA) writes to enthusiastically endorse on their behalf the movement of the CCNY 2023-2028 Brownfields Job Training Program from work in the Bronx to a focused attention on Harlem populations and sites. This letter can be read here.

Sixty-five environmental professionals spent the second day of summer 2022 soaking in information on known or projected changes to the NYS Brownfield Cleanup Program, changes to the NYSDEC proposed Part 360 regulations, and speculating on the future of environmental litigation, insurance, and remediation as related to “forever chemicals.”  The NYC Brownfield Partnership was pleased to welcome guests from ten M/WBE firms to introduce them to Partnership members in need of their services and to introduce the Roundtable as a rapid way to obtain all the recent information for remediation practitioners in the NYC area.  The next Roundtable is scheduled for December 13, 2022, but please watch your emails for an announcement of a fall Roundtable if needed or topic-specific webinars that are time critical, such as the implementation of new regulations.

Posted June 22, 2022

The NYC Brownfield Partnership would like to congratulate the winners of the 2022 Big Apple Brownfield Awards. To download a pdf of the following images, please click here.

Viquar Chaudhry has assisted NYCBP with the analysis of the NYS BCP and tax credits.

Viquar Chaudhry is a candidate for the MS in Real Estate Development at the NYU SPS Schack Institute of Real Estate. He will graduate on May 19 and will serve as flag bearer during the Convocation ceremony. While at the Schack Institute of Real Estate, he collaborated with Professor Barry Hersh on the New York State Brownfield Partnership to analyze the Brownfield Cleanup Program. He also authored numerous articles on real estate, sustainability, tech, and the metaverse. Licensed in real estate since he was 18 years old, Chaudhry focuses on luxury real estate. He worked with prominent teams in the industry before venturing to start his own development brand.

What has been your favorite Schack Institute of Real Estate experience?

One of the best parts about the NYU SPS experience is the access to professional events, such as Schack’s Capital Markets Conference, Women in Real Estate Conference, and REIT Symposium, which has allowed me to meet industry leaders. I have always looked up to Larry Silverstein, Sam Zell, and Stephen Ross; these conferences offered a wonderful opportunity to see them in person!

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Posted June 2, 2022

George Duke, from Brown Duke & Fogel, shared NYCBP's comments on on New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Proposed Part 375 Revisions. They can be accessed here. 

Posted May 5, 2022

NYCBP Member, Larry Schnapf, weighs in on this recent decision by the EPA.

As we prediced, EPA received numerous negative comments to its Direct Final Rule that would have recognized that the new ASTM E1527-21 phase 1 standard may be used to comply with the All Appropriate Inquires (AAI) rule for asserting certain landowner liability defenses and qualify for brownfield grants.

All of the comments criticized EPA’s plan to allow the obsolete E1527-13 to continue to be used to comply with AAI.  The commenters uniformly objected to EPA’s approach because they believed it would cause confusion in the marketplace and create a loophole that would allow substandard phase 1 providers to undercut the market. None of the comments posted on the EPA website for the rulemaking supported this dual approach.  I submitted negative comments which can be read 

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Posted May 5, 2022