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Practice/Industry Group Overview
Brownfields Redevelopment Concern over urban sprawl has promoted the recycling and "backfilling" of the urban environment. The Federal government and many states have enacted "brownfield" incentive, historic preservation, and voluntary remediation programs to promote the reuse of historically significant and/or contaminated urban and industrial properties. Hunton & Williams LLP has been a pioneer in assisting clients in the redevelopment of brownfields sites, compliance with and creative use of these historic preservation programs and the implementation of voluntary remediation programs. In many instances, we have drafted the enabling legislation. We work with our clients, regulatory agencies, local governments and financial institutions to make these projects a win-win for all involved. Our long-term experience in dealing with mandatory remediation programs under the federal Superfund and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act statutes allows us to evaluate the benefits of the alternative brownfields programs. It also allows us to assist clients in obtaining eligibility for brownfields programs where they are limited to situations where remediation is truly voluntary. Our remediation related experience also allows us to coordinate among the various regulatory agencies that may otherwise have jurisdiction and to assist in finding creative solutions to environmental, land use and financial issues. We have also negotiated prospective purchaser agreements, certificates of completion, covenants not to sue and other forms of comfort letters which formally recognize the government's intentions not to pursue the brownfield developer or responsible party for the environmental conditions at the site. In several instances, we have obtained reimbursement from the Department of Defense or other responsible agencies for costs of remediation. In all cases, we work to obtain the benefits available and desirable to the client for brownfield redevelopment. These vary from program to program but can include public financing, protection from future liability and immunity from enforcement. We assist our clients in the development of plans and contracts to investigate, remediate and redevelop the property. Central to this effort is often the use of site specific risk assessments to determine "how clean is clean" in light of future uses of the property and the need for financing of the project. We also assist in preparing other documents in a manner that advocates approval by the relevant agency. We are also experienced in evaluating, on behalf of our clients, innovative insurance products that provide comfort to the financial institutions. These include actuarially based insurance products for unknown problems, as well as caps on financial liability for known problems. Finally, working with our real estate team, we are able to obtain necessary zoning and other land use approvals to put the property back into its highest and best use. We also have extensive experience in historic preservation issues. These include the compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and its state analogs, the creation and amendment of conservation easements and the obtaining of tax credits. We are especially proud of our association with and work on public-private partnerships that have allowed the conservation of historical landmarks that, given the scarcity of resources, would have fallen into permanent disrepair. Our work in this area includes the following representative efforts - Conversion of a Superfund National Priority List ("NPL") site into a community recreational facility;
- Redevelopment of an NPL listed military installation into an industrial/ office park;
- Restoration of an antebellum plantation manor house on the National Register of Historic Places into a corporate university campus;
- Work to keep sites from NPL listing so that brownfield restoration could occur in a timely manner;
- Work to remediate urban areas to allow refinancing of ongoing industrial activities;
- Assisting clients in state voluntary cleanup programs throughout the country, culminating in the receipt of state-issued liability protections;
- Assist clients in securing properties and facilities in urban renewal areas, such as the Atlanta Empowerment Zone, without incurring liability; and
- Work with brownfield developers to assist client/property owners in maximizing and realizing value of contaminated property.
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