Ohio Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant Program

Ohio EPA will award $10 million by May 2012 and another $10 million by fall 2012 to private and public sector entities for clean diesel projects.  Funded by the Federal Highway Administration, the grants are targeted to improve air quality and public health in areas of Ohio not currently meeting air quality standards by reducing diesel exhaust emissions, upgrading diesel fleets and promoting the use of alternative and cleaner burning fuels.  The funds can be used for transit and school  buses, snow plows, refuse collection trucks, long and short haul trucks, locomotives and highway construction equipment.

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Certifying LEED Certification: What Does That Mean?

As users of commercial real estate become more interested in sustainable practices, buying or leasing a LEED^®-certified building becomes a business deal point.  How does an attorney or real estate manager determine if a particular target was properly LEED certified or has kept the certification status as advertised? 

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U.S. EPA Grants Funding for Brownfield Environmental Assessments and UST Investigations

To anyone planning soon to proceed with a brownfield environmental site assessment or an underground storage tank (UST) environmental site investigation in Hamilton County, Ohio this Legal Alert will be of interest.   

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An Update: Ohio Legislature Gives Tax Relief to Solar, Wind and Other Renewable Energy Producers

To update the earlier posting, please note that yesterday Ohio Governor Strickland signed Senate Bill 232 with an emergency clause, making the new law effective June 17, 2010.

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Ohio Legislature Gives Tax Relief to Solar, Wind and Other Renewable Energy Producers

In the wee hours on Friday, June 4, 2010, the Ohio House adopted Amended Senate Bill 232 which was designed to provide a personal property tax exemption to owners of renewable energy projects.

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New Surface Water Requirements for Construction Sites

On December 1, 2009, U.S. EPA adopted new rules which establish the first national standards for the control of pollutants (sediment, turbidity and nutrients) discharged via stormwater from construction sites to surface waters.

U.S. EPA’s new rules will impact residential and commercial construction and development companies, as well as those entities involved in highway, street and bridge construction.  These entities are already required to obtain a stormwater discharge permit (usually from a state agency, but sometimes from U.S. EPA) and to employ certain control measures to manage stormwater discharges to surface water.

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USGBC Announces Top 10 Pieces of Green Building Legislation

The US Green Building Council recently released its "Top Ten Pieces of Green Building Legislation in the 111th Congress."  Interestingly enough, only one of these pieces of legislation has actually been passed into law, and that is the often discussed American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (see our previous summary of that legislation).

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Court Overturns Ohio Minor Emission Source Exemption

In a decision that will affect many businesses with small emission sources, on February 2, 2010, a federal district magistrate for the U.S. District Court, in Sierra Club v. Christopher Korleski, Case No. 2:08-CV-865 (U.S. District Court, Ohio), ruled that Ohio’s New Source Review (NSR) exemption for minor emission sources was invalid.

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Update on Cincinnati Environmental Justice Ordinance

On February 10, 2010, the Cincinnati City Counsel approved an ordinance to formally delay the effective date of the City’s new environmental justice ordinance until February 1, 2011.  Implementation and enforcement of the ordinance was delayed due to a lack of funding.  The ordinance will require new or expanding manufacturing facilities to obtain an environmental justice permit.

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Update on Cincinnati Environmental Justice Ordinance

As of December 21, 2009, it will become more difficult to build a new manufacturing facility or expand an existing one in the City of Cincinnati.  The law which will take effect is the Cincinnati Environmental Justice Ordinance and is believed to be the only one of its kind in the United States.

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