Polanco Act
The attached file includes an article on pages 8-12 by Richard G. Opper, the founding partner of Opper and Varco, LLP, (www.envirolawyer.com), in San Diego, CA.
The article is a very helpful introduction to the Polanco Redevelopment Act, which provides that a redevelopment agency can demand that owners (and other responsible parties) propose and carry out a remedial plan for a property within a project area. If the demand is ignored, the agency can either undertake the work itself and bill back to owners/responsible parties, or force the owners/responsible parties to take on a clean up themselves.
A recent (from 9/03) survey showed that about 60 of the State’s 350 redevelopment agencies were using the act, or had used it. This is not a “last-minute” solution. Using the Act takes lots of foresight.
Ironically, brownfield redevelopment and political circumstances surrounding 9/11 caused a lessening of CERCLA/Superfund liabilities for landowners and therefore affected redevelopment agencies’ abilities to enforce Polanco. Nonetheless, use of the Polanco act has increased.
Question: Have any of our readers been involved with a transaction or development assisted by the Polanco Act? Please tell us about it. Did it help make for a redevelopment that otherwise wouldn’t have happened? Was it an efficient or painful process? Was it worth it?
Question: It seems like the obvious question is, “does the Polanco Act get used only when a redevelopment project area exist to facilitate the act?…..or do cities actually create redevelopment project areas specifically in order to be able to use the Polanco Act on key sites?
Question: Do any of our readers have any other comments?
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 at 7:38 pm and is filed under ●Brownfields 101, ●Brownfields Fed, State & Local Government, ●Brownfields Planning, Entitlements, Permits, ●Environmental Agencies, ●Environmental Liability Issues.
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June 13th, 2007 at 11:13 am
The article that is posted predates some new developments in brownfield law in California that now should be considered before proceeding on a site. AB 389, for example, has created new opprotunities, and recent Polanco case law has also opened new doors. This area of the law is susceptible to rapid change - be careful!
June 14th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Robert,
Thanks for providing the update on your previous article. I read a bit on AB 389 but didn’t get too far. I’ll need to call you next time it comes up.