Sustainability Law Blog

The Washington Senate Environment, Water and Energy Committee recently passed Senate Bill 5840, which if passed into law would make significant changes to the state's renewable portfolio standard, enacted by the voters in 2006 as Initiative I-937. Numerous renewable energy advocates, including the Renewable Northwest Project , think that SB 5840 is bad for renewable energy in Washington.

Currently, I-937 requires that 17 electric utilities in Washington obtain 15% of their electricity from renewables by 2020, and meet interim targets along the way. SB 5840 would have several potentially controversial effects on these requirements.

First, the bill would make it easier for utilities to rely on a provision of I-937 that excuses or reduces compliance with the renewables targets for utilities experiencing low or no load growth. RNP concludes that without sustained high load growth statewide, none of the renewables targets in I-937 would be met until after 2030 if HB 5840 becomes law.

Continue reading " Change May Be Coming for Washington's Renewable Portfolio Standard " »

U.S. Senators and cousins Mark Udall (D - Colo) and Tom Udall (D – N.Mex) introduced a bill in Congress to set a federal renewable portfolio standard. The Udalls' proposal is to require electric utilities to produce 25% of their electricity from renewable resources by 2025. The bill also includes interim targets, the first being a 6% renewables minimum by 2012. Municipal, publicly owned, and rural co-op utilities would be exempt from the requirements.

At least 28 states already have renewable portfolio standards. Some state standards are less stringent than the proposed federal standard and some are more strict. Hopefully, any federal standard would not pre-empt states that choose to enact more challenging targets, but would set a floor for utilities in all 50 states to meet. Numerous studies have shown that a federal renewable portfolio standard will create jobs, reduce energy bills and carbon emissions, and strengthen energy security. A federal standard would also drive investment in our energy infrastructure and development of newer and better technologies.

A federal renewable portfolio standard is one part of the "holy trinity" on the renewable energy industry's legislative wish list. The other two are long-term extensions of the federal tax credits that support renewable energy (or replacement programs providing similar benefits), and a nationwide carbon control program. The federal production and investment tax credits for renewable energy have been extended through 2013 and 2014, respectively. The Udalls' bill represents a significant step toward the second wish, and carbon legislation is expected later this year or in 2010.

Post authored by David Petersen, partner practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate and Land Use Groups.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently announced that Oregon will receive $80.7 million in funding for weatherization and energy efficiency projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law in February. The Energy Department estimates this will create about 800 new jobs in Oregon. Weatherization assistance will be available in amounts up to $6,500 per home for families at 200% or less of the federal poverty level (for a family of four, this is about $44,000 per year). Energy efficiency grants will be available to fund home energy audits, development of renewable energy and alternative fuels, promotion of Energy Starproducts, government building efficiency upgrades, and other energy efficiency-related programs.

Post authored by David J. Petersen, partner practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate and Land Use Groups.

The University of Oregon's Lundquist School of Business has announced that Tom Osdoba, formerly with Portland's Office of Sustainable Development, is the new director of the school's Center for Sustainable Business Practices . On April 3, the school will sponsor a symposium at its Portland campus (the one with the "Made in Oregon" sign on top) called "Growing a Green Economy: Perspectives from Law and Business." The timing of the symposium dovetails nicely with the Portland Development Commission's work on the Portland Economic Plan referenced in an earlier post "Sustaining Portland's Economy." One focus of that plan is the role of Higher Ed in securing a sustainable economy. Further, an insider tells me that at the symposium the University of Oregon will announce a joint JD/MBA program focused on sustainability. Such a joint program, perhaps the first in the nation, will add to the resources Portland and Oregon can claim toward forming a legitimate national leadership role in sustainability.

The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Oregon Department of Energy signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate wind project siting on federally owned lands. The agreement provides for joint environmental review of proposed projects by both agencies under state and federal legal requirements.

As suitable private land for wind projects becomes harder to find, BLM land is the next logical home for significant wind power development in the state. This agreement should make the process of developing projects on federal land easier, faster, and more predictable.

Post authored by David Petersen, partner practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate and Land Use Groups.

President Obama's and Governor Kulongoski's are not the only executive branches looking to stimulate the general economy by emphasizing greener technology. Mayor Adams and the Portland Development Commission are formulating the City of Portland Economic Development Strategy, a five-year plan for promoting economic growth and job creation. According to PDC's Peter Cunningham, the strategy is 50% complete with a target completion of early summer, 2009. The goal of the strategy is to build here in Portland the most sustainable economy in the U.S. The rationale is that Portland possesses unique advantages that make it a front runner to be the capital of the U.S. green economy. All this seems audacious for a city of Portland's size, but according to PDC, the Portland Metropolitan region possesses talent clusters 84% greater than similarly-sized regions for renewable energy and 43% greater for environmental services and recycling.

The concept of a sustainable economy as a three-legged stool is familiar to many: economy, environment, society. PDC has its own spin: sustainable job growth; sustainable way of life; and inclusive prosperity.

The Silicon Forest never really had a chance to rival the Silicon Valley or the Research Triangle in the race for Web-based commerce supremacy, because it was starting out from too far back in terms of both its industry base and its research base. There is no question, though, that Portland is a leader in policies promoting transit, land use planning, bicycling, density, a thriving central city, green buildings, and recycling. Portland may really be, rather than merely aspire to be, a front runner in the race to the most sustainable economy.

Parties responsible for the remediation or cleaning up of contaminated sites under Superfund or RCRA may not be aware that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could provide enforcement and liability relief to them under EPA's innovative Environmentally Responsible Redevelopment and Reuse initiative ("ER3"). ER3 requires participants to perform the cleanup of contaminated sites using "green remediation" techniques such as reducing energy requirements of the treatment system and minimizing land disturbance and ecosystem impacts. EPA launched ER3 because EPA felt that the fear of liability continued to stall or prevent the revitalization of contaminated property despite the 2002 Brownfields amendments (which limited the liability of so-called "bona fide purchasers" of contaminated property). Consequently, with the ER3 initiative, EPA hopes to spur cleanup that would otherwise not occur.

ER3 consists of the following three primary components:

• Identify and provide enforcement and Agency-wide incentives to developers and property owners to encourage sustainable cleanup and development.
• Develop partnerships with federal, state, public, and private entities to establish a network of expertise on sustainable development issues.
• Promote sustainable redevelopment of contaminated properties through education and outreach.

The first project to obtain redevelopment approval under ER3 was a "green" hotel project in Empire Canyon, Park City, Utah. The hotel's developer obtained relief from certain future enforcement actions by EPA in exchange for the developer's agreement to redevelop a former ore mining and processing area into a sustainable hotel and resort. The planned luxury hotel, the Montage Resort & Spa, is planned to open in late 2010. Another ER3-approved project is an integrated solid waste management and ethanol manufacturing facility located on the site of a former army ammunition manufacturing plant in Mead, Nebraska. For this project EPA provided the company developing the site with a comfort letter. A "comfort letter" is a letter written by EPA for a site owner, lending institution or other interested party that clearly and realistically describes EPA's intentions with regard to property in question. The comfort letter allowed the company to secure a $70 million loan for the construction of the facility.

Given the fact that the President recently signed into law the $787 billion stimulus package, it now would likely be a great time for companies to submit proposals to EPA under ER3. Interested parties should click here to find a link to examples of potential ER3 candidates and projects that incorporate principles of sustainable development, as well as an ER Sustainability Project at Redevelopment Site proposal form.

Post authored by Jeanette Schuster, attorney practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate and Land Use Groups.