Property Transaction Comfort in Ohio

Do you own or want to own an Ohio brownfield property that needs comfort to make a property transaction happen? If so, read this. Changes in state and federal law beginning in the 1970s have had significant impacts on the transfer of liability associated with brownfield properties. These regulatory programs can sometimes be a daunting process for investors who need measurable levels of comfort throughout a property transaction. By using available tools to manage the environmental liabilities associated with the past use of a property, the level of property transaction comfort can be raised for those taking ownership of commercial and industrial brownfield properties.

As part of a collaborative effort with experts from around the state, the Technical Committee of the National Brownfield Association’s Ohio Chapter has designed a six-step process to provide property transaction comfort by effectively defining, minimizing and/or transferring environmental liabilities.

This process is defined in the Technical Committee’s November 2005 white paper, which describes tools that can be used to achieve a successful brownfield transaction. The six-step process includes:

1. Defining property transaction comfort
2. Assessing available liability management tools
3. Defining risks
4. Evaluating statutory constraints
5. Selecting additional tools to limit or transfer risk
6. Assessing assembled protections against needs

The liability management tools described in the white paper cannot provide absolute protection from future claims associated with historical contamination, but they can help achieve the required level of comfort needed to successfully complete brownfield property transactions.

Applied in various combinations, these strategies can provide property transaction comfort and serve as a comprehensive approach to addressing key elements of property transactions, including the potential transfer of environmental liability and subsequent expenses that result from state and federal statutes.

In addition to easing confusion and providing a greater level of reassurance to property owners, developing a process to address property transaction comfort helps to reduce the environmental threats posed by long-idled properties and encourages economic development opportunities throughout Ohio. By improving awareness of these available tools to assist with liability issues and ownership, Ohio will be in a position to increase the number of brownfield property transactions occurring statewide. BFN