National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
211 E. Ontario Street, Suite 1300, Chicago, IL 60611
312-915-0195, fax 312-915-0187, website www.nccusl.org
Contact: Michael Kerr, NCCUSL Legislative Director, 312-915-0107
Katie Robinson, NCCUSL Communications Officer, 312-915-5962
For Immediate Release:
Washington 17th State to Enact Uniform Environmental Covenants Act
April 20, 2007 – A new state statute that enforces restrictions on the use of environmentally remediated real estate – or brownfields – is now the law in Washington. The Uniform Environmental Covenants Act (UECA) -- SB 5421 -- was signed into law by Washington Governor Chris Gregoire on April 18 as Chapter 104 of 2007 Laws. It takes effect on July 22, 2007. Washington now joins Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and the US Virgin Islands in adopting UECA.
UECA has also been introduced in 13 other states this year: Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia. A few more introductions are still expected this year.
UECA, drafted and approved by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL), establishes requirements for a new valid real estate document – an “environmental covenant” – to control the future use of brownfields when real estate is transferred from one person to another.
An environmental covenant is a legal device which restricts activities on sites where some contamination remains in place. While the general goal of most cleanups is to return a site to a condition where it can be safely used for any purpose, this is not always technically possible or economically practicable. Then, use restrictions and institutional controls may be imposed on the real estate to supplement cleanup measures. Restrictions limit use to safe use. These restrictions are necessary to protect human health and the environment from the potential of inadvertent exposures to residual contamination while encouraging economic development.
The environmental covenant makes land more marketable because future owners know the situation. Currently, polluted sites are hard to sell because potential buyers don’t know what kind of cleanup might be required.
The environmental covenants created under UECA would be based upon traditional property law principles and would be recorded in the local land records and thereby bind successive owners of the property. State and local governments would have clear rights to enforce the land use restrictions and thereby ensure with greater certainty the protection of human health and the environment throughout the life of the land use restriction and through real estate transactions or legal actions.
“The Uniform Environmental Covenants Act provides a clear mechanism for the states to create, enforce, modify and terminate environmental covenants to control the use of contaminated real estate and permit safe re-use of that property,” said Michael Kerr, Deputy Legislative Director of NCCUSL. “The Act makes it possible for owners to transfer property knowing that the restrictions that need to be kept on that property will be respected.”
Legislative Information:
ALABAMA
SB 91 -- Sen. Smitherman -- On Senate Calendar
ARIZONA
SB 13721534 – Sen. Allen – In Senate Rules Committee
CONNECTICUT
SB 596 -- Sen. Harris -- In Senate Judiciary Committee
INDIANA
SB 453 – Sen. Simpson – Died in Committee
MICHIGAN
SB 201 -- Sen. Patterson -- In Senate Natural Resources Committee
MINNESOTA
SF 1051 – Sen. Moua – Passed Senate
MISSISSIPPI
HB 1460 – Rep. Watson – Died in Committee
MISSOURI
SB 388– Sen. Mayer – Passed Senate Agriculture Committee
NEW MEXICO
HB 48 – Rep. Heaton – Died on Adjournment
PENNSYLVANIA
HB 43 – Rep. Rubley – Passed House Environmental Resources Committee
RHODE ISLAND
HB5743 – Rep. Naughton – House Environment and Natural Resources Committee
VERMONT
SB 184 -- Sen. Illuzzi -- In Senate Natural Resources Committee
VIRGINIA
HB 2384– Rep. May – Tabled
WASHINGTON
SB 5421 – Sen. Fraser – ENACTED
A website has been established which contains important information on UECA – www.environmentalcovenants.org.
UECA is supported by the National Institutional Controls Coalition (NICC), a broad coalition of affected interests, including representatives of affected industries, federal and state regulators, environmental groups, cleanup specialists, and local, state and federal governmental organizations. The NICC also maintains a website devoted to UECA at www.lucs.org/ueca.
The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, now in its 116th year, provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law. The organization comprises more than 300 lawyers, judges, and law professors, appointed by the states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to research, draft and promote enactment of uniform state laws in areas of state law where uniformity is desirable and practical. Since its inception in 1892, the group has promulgated more than 200 acts, among them such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code, and the Uniform Partnership Act. |