This checklist identifies key issues to be considered when contracting for a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment of a commercial property. When ordering a Phase II assessment, it is important to be aware of the context in which the environmental investigation is to take place. ...

In the realm of wetland regulation, it doesn’t get much bigger than the case currently before the Supreme Court challenging the very definition of “jurisdictional wetlands.” In 1986, Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) sought to develop a 533 acre landfill. The agency ...

New permits for activities in nontidal wetlands have been proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The new permits would cover most commercial and residential development and replace the general permit (known as Nationwide Permit 26) that is used in nearly 70% of projects ...

The Court of Special Appeals recently ruled that the Environmental Article of the Maryland Code does not create a cause of action for buyers of land to sue their sellers. This case of first impression arose when Torsak Rossaki purchased a piece of property from ...

The Supreme Court recently made it more difficult for the federal government to collect Superfund cleanup costs for sites owned by corporate subsidiaries. In an important decision in the era of Brownfields, when businesses are evaluating the possible liabilities for hazardous waste cleanup, the justices ...

Finding that the Army Corps of Engineers exceeded its authorization under the Clean Water Act (CWA), the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned the conviction of a developer found guilty of filling wetlands in Southern Maryland. In United States of America v. James ...

A new era in environmental law and urban revitalization is upon us – the movement to redevelop Brownfields, the name for abandoned or under used commercial and industrial sites where redevelopment is hampered by contamination, real or perceived. A series of recent efforts have greatly ...

A new era in both environmental regulation and urban revitalization came upon us in early 1997. That new era is the movement to redevelop Maryland’s Brownfields, the name for abandoned or under used commercial and industrial sites where redevelopment is hampered by contamination, whether real ...