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01/27/1998 15:12 5124841903 · basement loc:ations. The above factors are discussed in IFI ReguLatory and LegJalative Overview No.6. U Ole Ptlase I qualitalive s.IhI uaeesment showl Ihe poten- ~I for contamJnation, a Phase n Assessment Irwl'!stigiltion may be recommended, Phase II assessments may conaist of taIdng alt, soil. JUJ'mce wata', and/or gTOUmt water samples. Purchasing Equipment Putthasln8 equipment today I.s not a, easy .u it once Wa.9. The CW'I'eI'\t trend is lor banking lenden to lend mongy bas.ed on the borrower's penanal asset! rather than the as~ of the business. This Is because of the potential for a businI!8s to ~ involnd in environmental litigation. potential1y freezing the assets of the business whereby the busiMss may not be! able to "'pay the loan. This particular circumstance assumes the business is incorporated and the penonal asseb of the owner generally cannot be attached. More o.n corporate liability will be discussed later in the bulletin. Who Can Be Made Responsible for the Cleanup? The n!sponlibllHy for cleanup i, dearly one of the most difflcuJt quesdons to answer. Every day. the courts make decisions In this area and, in general, the number of pOh,"- tially respon,ible parties for any cleanup is expanding. We have already discu9ged that the 1l1'nders can be held respon- sible for cleanup. Other parties who have also been found liable for cleanup include le9sOfs. Many courts have role<! that lessors of property be held liable simply because they had knowledge of the IIctivities of the lessee. This, of course, is far-reaching and may prevent drydeaners from leasing locations like strip shopping centeno In fact, we have already seen I In!nd in this area in IIOItII! regions of the country which only allow dIy stores/satellite stores rather than fuU-gervke dtyc1eanU\g plants. One c:i the biggest veils of prdeclim an owner of a buslnl!B8 can have is under the ItruI;h1res of incorpontiOl\. AI well as other advlrltagas. incorporation anows the shareholders/ownm of the busilll!!ll to bc!rome separlle from their pl!l'80~ l18~ts. This would be especi.aUy helpful if II lawsuit or businm failure occun!d. Under Supriund, how eve!', the courts have pil!l'C9d Uu! corpoutg wU allowing owntn to become individually liable. GARY MCLEAN INC PAGE 05 Federal and State Laws Related to Contaminated Property Su~rfund. ,tate, hI individual compan.les can be made individually or collectively responsible for environmental clelUlup of wash!!. While there are JIW1y envi..ronmental laws that cover notification reqUirements for I!Ipills, accidental releases, etc., nowhere is the issue of cleanup and liability atated Ie dearly u it i9 in the Superfund law. &sid. Super- fund, UIAIIY Ita!. require ,den to notify proepective buyers about the current or past presence of on-site haurdous waste IMKlrla18 (including; pi7!tro!ettrn.), and/or requlre su.pporting documentation stating that no hazardous wasle discharges have occurred on thl'! site. When we last reported. only one or two slal2s had passed legislation, with .a few more pl!ndJng. Currently, nine states have pasS@d property transfer legisla- tion with at least 21 others pending. Surprising. however, is that CI1e state, New Jmey, the Jim staN with a comprehens- ive property transfer law, exempts dryclelUlers from any aduat requirements under tIut law. Is Help on the Way? While we will continue to hay!! an u.phill battle with regard to contaminated siles, one area where we may see some retief i, in the ability to seek and obtain loan, from lenders. House SmaU Business Committee Chairman John 1- Lafalce. (D-New York) has introdu~!!d bill HR 1450. Representative Lafalce stated that he "is trying to prolect small businesses that are being deprived of credit because lenders fear Superfund liability if they make loan and lewr fored0ge 01\ coneaminated. property." A simIlar Senate bill hal!l 8150 Men. irltroducecl by Senator Jake Garn of Utah, On ^pril 29,1992, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a finallend.er liability rule which should also help to make it easier for slNll buslnwses 10 8I!C\Jte loans. Summary 11W bulletin by no means covers all the potential elwi. I'<'nmenta1 pl'tlblems that <'lIn ex.ist when buying and/ or selling dryc1eening plants and purchasing equipment It is irlbmded, however, to provide YOq with a greilter und{!t- standing of the current climate conditions that exist with regard. to the environment. nu, buUetin was written by Jon Meijer, Legislative/Joint Stab! Liai90n _111 II"- tI...-! StoIa.lJ1"""".....04 No..... 01.... -.II !My tJo ~_... on)'.......... by 01_... __ - ~ W_on -S- U1d -oj"Y"""" wi....... P""-"" _..~. RL-IO 10/92