Sustainability Law Blog

The U.S. Department of Energy has funded a pilot program by eTec Corporation and Nissan North America to deploy up to 5,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in five U.S markets in 2010, including Portland and Seattle. Program participants will have the opportunity to buy new Nissan EV's at about the cost of an average family sedan, which are expected to be able to travel about 100 miles on a single charge. The federal money is part of a $2.4 billion program to fund battery research and manufacturing, EV development and installation of EV infrastructure.

Portland General Electric (PGE) has already installed 20 EV charging stations in the Portland Metro area and Salem. The program will work with PGE and three Seattle utilities to install an additional 2,550 charging stations in Portland and Seattle, and will install personal charging stations at no cost in the homes of program participants. ZipCar, a popular car sharing service, will also participate in the EV program in Seattle.

I already use ZipCar and love it. I think I'll look into participating in the pilot program.

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

Ecolutions is a once a month free happy hour event for young professionals with a passion for the environment and sustainability held at The Agency Ultra Sport Lounge and sponsored by the Holy Names Heritage Center. Ecolutions is an opportunity for individuals to interact with environmental pioneers and discuss and debate pressing ecological challenges and help forge creative solutions – it’s not a lecture series, but a forum for discussion. Topics change each month (see July through September descriptions below). So, if you are looking for something to do on a Monday night, check it out:

What: Ecolutions, “Redefining Eating,” a dialogue regarding food and how the choices we make affect the economy, environment, our culture and health. The discussion will highlight the means and methods of the food industry and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
When: July 20, 2009 at 6pm
Where: The Agency, 1939 SW Morrison St., adjacent to PGE Park

What: Ecolutions, “Recyclable Plastics – What Does it Really Mean,” plastics recycling leader Dennis Denton of Denton Plastics will discuss the realities of recycled plastics so you as consumer can make more informed decisions when purchasing products.
When: August 10, 2009 at 6pm
Where: The Agency

What: Ecolutions, “Water Renaissance,” a discussion regarding our water consumption choices and how we can use tap water wisely.
When: September 14, 2009 at 6pm
Where: The Agency

The Holy Names Heritage Center also sponsors the successful “History Pub” series at the McMenamin’s Kennedy School. Due to the success of the “History Pub” series, the Sisters of the Holy Names desired to create a program that presented environmental stewardship concepts since the Sisters have been involved in the care of the earth for 150 years in the Northwest. Ecolutions is also sponsored by grants from The Meyer Memorial Trust and Norm Thompson founders, John and Jane Emrick.

If you are interested in attending and want more information, please click
here.

Post authored by Ari A. Okano, attorney practicing in the Business and Intellectual Property Groups.

On May 20, David Petersen and I participated on behalf of Tonkon Torp's Sustainability Law Practice in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District's Sustainability Showcase. While perusing the displays put up by the various businesses and local government agencies, I was able to pick up some useful information about water-wise gardening in the Pacific Northwest, including a great guide created by horticulture and conservation experts to assist the general gardener in making informed decisions about how to use water more efficiently in their landscapes. Following are some tips from this guide that I find very useful:

• The fact that most automatic irrigation timers are set to go off in the early mornings puts a great strain on water utilities, which must often super-size their facilities to meet early-morning water demand. A better time period for setting irrigation timers is during off-hours, i.e., between 11 pm and 5 am.

• A yard has numerous microclimates formed or affected by influences such as the house, balconies, rooftops, fences, walls, large rocks or trees, and paved surfaces. You can create a healthier landscape by selecting plants most suited to a particular microclimate.

• Only plant (or allow to remain, as the case may be) turf areas where grass is practical and functional. Good alternatives to grass are ground covers (particularly good for steep slopes where grass is hard to maintain and foot traffic is infrequent) and hardscape features such as pathways or patios.

• Only use organic mulch to cover the soil in your garden. Plastic mulches tend to increase soil temperatures and do not stimulate the activity of beneficial soil organisms that improve soil structure and biology.

• Last and certainly not least, water wisely: (i) water based on soil conditions and plant needs; (ii) water deeply but infrequently; (iii) use drip hoses instead of sprinklers; and (iv) water in accordance with the weather.

There are some beautiful water-efficient Demonstration Gardens in the Willamette Valley if you'd like to see what a water-wise garden looks like on the ground, including a 7,000 sq. ft. garden at Clackamas Community College and a 1.3 acre garden at the Tualatin Valley Water District.

Happy water wise gardening!

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

Parties engaged in real property transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and real property development should be aware that in March 2008, ASTM International (originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials) released a standard, numbered E-2600-08, that defines good commercial and customary practice in the US for conducting a vapor intrusion assessment ("VIA") on a parcel of property involved in a real estate transaction. The purpose of a VIA is to determine whether subsurface chemicals may be migrating as vapors from contaminated soil or groundwater on the property (or within close proximity to the property) into existing or planned structures on the property. While neither the US Environmental Protection Agency nor the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality currently requires the implementation of VIAs as an element of Phase I environmental site assessments ("ESAs"), lenders will likely require them in the future to eliminate the possibility of an unacceptable risk to humans at the property.

ESAs are "above-ground" property inspections that include a review of the property's historical use, ownership and aerial photographs, a site visit, and interviews of owners and local government officials, but do not involve testing the soil or groundwater. They are standard practice in real estate transactions because they allow purchasers of real property (assuming the ESAs are performed correctly) to claim one of the three protections, so called "innocent purchaser" defenses, available against potential CERCLA (or "Superfund") claims. Consequently, if VIAs are going to become a required component of Phase I ESAs, environmental due diligence in real estate transactions will likely become more costly and time-intensive.

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

As an undergraduate economics major thirty years ago, I wrestled hard with the concept of waste as an externality not priced correctly by the market. We were living in the aftermath of the 1973 spike in petroleum prices and I had recently returned from an extended journey through Europe, where retail gasoline prices far exceeded those in the U.S. (We coasted our VW Microbus down hills to save gas.) I was in school in Southern California and there was a fear that lead from car exhaust was going to reach deadly levels very soon in the San Gabriel Valley. I worked hard on the idea of how one could accurately price the impacts of combustion engine waste.

So, when I read a quote the other day from Josiah Cain of Design Ecology , I was struck by the idea that water is somewhat different from the other natural resources that we like to refer to as "commodities." Cain was explaining why our single use of water—washing our face with it, putting it down the drain, conveying it to a place where it is treated with chemicals, and then dumping it into a river—makes no sense. The quote: "There's no such thing as waste water." Think about it. We struggle hard enough with accounting for the costs associated with our many wastes in the pricing of consumer products. We adopt environmental laws and regulations to assist with many wastes. For example, EPA is considering adoption of a carbon score for fuels that would account for all emissions from biofuel production: fuel combustion, fuel distribution, refining emissions, tractor and fertilizer emissions, and land conversion. This biofuel carbon score could then be compared to the carbon score of other fuels.

But what do you do with a concept like, "There's no such thing as waste water." What is a lawyer or a lawmaker supposed to do with that? Certainly a good start is found in ordinances promoting living roofs, living walls, rainwater harvesting, and gray water reuse. We may need to take our lead from the design build profession, and not so much from economics.

Governor Kulongoski recently unveiled an ambitious legislative package aimed at mitigating the impacts of global warming and putting Oregon on track to reduce greenhouse gas levels to ten percent less than 1990 levels by the year 2020. The Governor's plan has four components, one of which is sustainable transportation. The sustainable transportation plan intends to address the state's growing transportation needs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To do this, the Governor plans to put forward the following four measures in 2009:

1) Encouraging alternative vehicle technologies such as plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles;
2) Authorizing the Environmental Quality Commission to adopt a low-carbon fuel standard that will require fuel providers to reduce the average carbon intensity of fuels sold by ten percent over time;
3) Expanding transportation options to allow Oregonians to attain an overarching vehicle miles traveled reduction goal that will be set by the Governor; and
4) Developing a least carbon model which will direct the Oregon Department of Transportation to consider the least carbon option in order to relieve congestion rather than just building additional capacity.

The biking community has already sounded warning bells about the fact that bicycles are not front and center in the Governor's plan. While the Governor does address expanded bicycle programs under the rubric of "expanding transportation options," bicycles are certainly not a key component of the Governor's plan.

Considering that Portland is a city known for its bike friendliness and high number of cyclists, it seems that this is an opportunity not to be missed. Take me for example—I used to regularly commute by bike, but now that I work in downtown and live in West Linn, I have not biked to work even once. But, if a safe biking route existed and there was a clean and convenient bike storage/locker/showering facility available to me, I can guarantee that I would bike commute to work on a regular basis. I am certain that there must be many more Oregonians like me—hampered by logistics but bikers at heart. Considering that bikes are one of the most carbon neutral transportation methods, it seems that this is a group of Oregonians not to be overlooked in planning for a more sustainable future.

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

A recent paper published in the October 10 issue of Science by biologists at UC Berkley and Colorado State University confirms predicted impacts of climate warming, without the confounding effects of land-use change, by demonstrating how small mammals at Yosemite National Park in California have coped over the last century with increases in global temperatures. To do this, the biologist resurveyed a broad group of mammals that had been extensively surveyed by biologist Joseph Grinnell from 1914 to 1920. The results of the study showed that low-elevation species expanded their ranges upward, while high-elevation species typically contracted their range elevations. As predicted by climate-change models, the upward movement occurred at a rate of approximately 500 feet for every 3 degree (Celsius) increase in minimum temperatures. The study concluded that the protection of large-scale elevation gradients is key to protecting species diversity in the face of global climate change.

Perhaps there is a lesson here that planners and governments of cities such as Phoenix or Las Vegas, where unsustainable growth has been booming despite consistently hotter and drier seasons, can heed—that is, if the environment cannot support you, a change in behavior is called for. After all, if shrews and mice can adapt to changes in their environment, why can't the most evolved mammal on Earth?

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

The Ethisphere Institute, a New York-based business ethics and social responsibility think tank, has identified the world's 10 most sustainable cities. Portland, Oregon was the only U.S. city to make the list. The Institute remarked on Portland's role as a hub for sustainable industries, the interconnectedness of its urban planning and mass transit, and its overall environmental awareness. City leaders from around the world recruit Portland's sustainability experts to develop their own programs, the Institute noted.

Cities were judged on their environmental plans and programs, transportation and housing, sustainable initiatives, and health and recreation. The other nine cities are Victoria, Canada; Copenhagen, Denmark; Oslo, Norway; Helsinki, Finland; Edinburgh, Scotland; Doha, Qatar; Reykjavik, Iceland; Wellington, New Zealand, and Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The cities were not ranked within the top ten.

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

Monday at SW First and Salmon was a glimpse of our transportation future. PGE rolled out the first of fifteen plug-in hybrid charging stations. Toyota brought one of its fleet of five plug-in hybrid Prius cars to demonstrate how the charging station works. PGE has plans to install fourteen more stations around the City, including at OMSI, OHSU and several Burgerville restaurants. The stations operate on relatively simple 220V technology, much like a clothes dryer or large freezer.

The primary advantage of plug-in hybrids over current hybrid vehicles is that the charging station is more efficient than the gasoline-powered engine at charging the batteries. This results in a greater proportionate use of electricity by the vehicle, which can increase gas mileage to close to 100 miles per gallon. Also, assuming the electricity at the power station comes from renewable technology like wind or solar, the carbon footprint of the vehicle is further reduced.

I stopped by Monday and talked to Rich George from PGE about some of the interesting legal issues posed by development of a network of charging stations across Oregon and the nation. First and foremost, who pays for the power -- the customer charging the car, or the host of the station? What role would electric utility regulation play in that relationship? One way to avoid thorny regulatory issues might be to charge for the use of the parking space rather than the electricity. In that case, what role might the Americans with Disabilities Act or similar legislation play? If so many charging stations and parking spaces are installed, must there be a set aside number of spaces with disabled access?

I'm sure these issues will be worked out over time. For now, it is nice to see the first step being taken here in Portland to make plug-in hybrids a reality.

Posted by David J. Petersen, partner practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate & Land Use Practice Groups.

Governor Kulongoski recently revealed his new comprehensive water strategy initiative, Headwaters to Ocean (H2O). The initiative's primary goal is to "achieve sustainable water supplies and quality to benefit Oregon's people, communities, economy, environment and ecosystems, and fish and wildlife" in the face of the pressures of climate change and rapid population growth. The H2O initiative is part of the Governor's legislative package designed to mitigate the impacts of global warming. To fund this initiative, Governor Kulongoski intends to ask the 2009 Legislature to put a referral bill before voters requesting $100 million from projected lottery dollars per biennium for 10 years. This bill, if passed, would then be placed on the November 2010 ballot. If approved, the H2O initiative would join a new class of climate change-based initiatives funded by lottery dollars.

The use of lottery money to fund climate change-based initiatives seems to be an emerging international concept. For example, the Climate Group, an independent, not-for-profit organization that works internationally with government and business leaders to advance climate change solutions, recently secured €1.5 million (approximately $2.36 million) from the Dutch National Postcode Lottery. The monies will be used to fund a global hub for climate change leadership involving influential state and regional governments around the world, including California and New York. Similarly, an injection of ₤1.25 million (approximately $2.47 million) in lottery funds from the UK's national lottery will help to fund a project aimed at making a small Scottish town, Stirling, the UK's first carbon neutral city.

Given the fact that Oregon is considered a forerunner in sustainability in the United States. Oregon's use of innovative funding to address climate change seems befitting its status as a "green state."

Posted by Jeanette C. Schuster, Attorney practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate and Land Use Practice Groups.