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28 Looking Ahead 1 (1996-1997)

handle is hein.journals/trends28 and id is 1 raw text is: Message rm the Chair mby Donna R. Black want to take this opportunity to reach out to all of you as members of the Section by outlining my goals for the coming year and seeking your sup- port in achieving these goals. As many of you are aware, the Section has devel- oped and is implementing a five-year Strategic Plan. My overarching objec- tive as Section Chair is to continue to implement this plan, as Phil Fleming, my predecessor, has done before me, and as Carol Dinkins, Chair-elect of the Section, will do'after me. Phil, Carol, and I, along with the rest of the Section leadership, are com- mitted to carrying out the Section's mission, which is to be the national forum for lawyers working in areas affecting natural resources, energy, and the environment, committed to pro- viding public services to enhance pro- fessional skills, development, and dia- logue. To advance this objective, I have four primary goals that I hope to accomplish during the coming year: - -Expand outreach to existing Section members and build and strengthen our Section by attracting new members, including law students and young lawyers. • Promote.diversity in all of its Donna- R. Black is Chair of the Sec- tion and a partner with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in Los Angeles. forms within the Section. • Make the Section more visible in our communities through an increased commitment to public service activities. - Further the Section's efforts to play a larger role in the overall ABA structure and to increase the Section's visibility through, among other things, continuing to host dialogues on important issues in the environmental, resources, and energy fields. The first goal -member out- reach-is important because the Section could not exist without an active and committed membership. Outreach efforts will include setting up additional local networking opportuni- ties in metropolitan areas to give mem- bers a chance to become involved in Section activities at the local level. In short, I am interested in promoting programs that will help take the Section to the members. I am also strongly encouraging increased use- of emerging technologies to expand the Section's Web site and home page and other opportunities for coiputerized communications among members. I want to provide more opportuni- ties for members to interact directly with Section leadership at Section meetings, in the hope that members will become more involved in the Section and take a more active role in its substantive committees. The Section has created a Mentoring Task Force to provide one-on-one -uidance on becoming more involved, and offers this benefit to members who wish to' avail themselves of this opportunity. If you would like more inforation on the Mentoring Task Force, please call Robin Fields at 405/272-1963. My second goal is to increase all aspects of diversity within the Section, including gender, ethnicity, types of practice, size of practice, and geo- graphical dispersion. The Section has recently formed the Diversity Task Force (DTF), which has planned a very active year in 1996-97. Section officers-and DTF members met togeth-, er in June for the first time in an all- day session devoted exclusively to diversity issues. Plans for the coming year include developing a directory of minority lawyers practicing in the Continuedon pane j Teamwork is Byword at BrownfieIds Transaction Conference 0 by lames T. Price he U:S. Environmental Protec- tion Agency (EPA) and the states are teaming upwith businesses and com- munity groups to promote the redevel- opment of contaminated industrial properties known as brownfields,', according to speakers at the National Brownfields Transaction Conference held June 18 in Chicago. The confer- ence, jointly sponsored by the Section of Natural Resources, Energy, and Envi- ronmental Law and the EPA, featured top speakers and panels comprised of brownfields innovators from EPA, state governments, private industry, city governments, and others. Elliott Laws, EPA assistant administrator, and Timo- thy Fields, Jr., EPA deputy assistant administrator, led several discussions. In one of the conference highlights, Laws and Fields participated in an James T. Price is a partner with Spencer Fane Britt & Browne in Kansas City, MO. extended audience question-and- answer session at which they discussed recent developments in EPAs brown- fields initiatives. Laws and Fields said that EPA has undertaken several steps to encourage persons to buy and sell contaminated property. EPA has removed tens of thousands of sites from its CERCLIS list of potentially contaminated sites. In addition, EPA has published several guidance documents to clarify liability issues surrounding redevelopment of contaminated property. One is EPAs guidance dn prospective purchaser agreements, which is designed to elim- inate much of the retroactive liability concerns associated with purchasing contaminated property. Other policies and guidance address liability issues for owners of property containing con- taminated aquifers, land use in remedy selection, so-called comfort letters for transfers of federally owned property, lender liability issues, risk-based cor- rective action, and other topics. These all are part of EPAS brownfields action agenda announced in january 1995. Additionally, EPA has awarded 60 brownfields pilot grants to states, local governments, and tribes. One of the Clinton administration's iost recent broufields initiatives is a proposed tax incentive for investment ii brownfields sites. This proposal was discussed by EPA representatives and by Val Strehlow of the U.S. Department of Treasuiy. Economic development incentives are an important component of suc- cessful brownfields projects, said Kent' Carlson, vice president of Ryan Companies of Minnesota, a real estate development firm. Carlson discussed his companys success in redeveloping the Twin Lakes Corporate Center, an office complex located at a former vehicle repair and manufacturing facil- ity near Minneapolis. Henry Henderson, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Environment., said his city's brownfields pilot pro- gram successfully had redeveloped five brownfields sites for less than $1 mil- lion, and the city had found that prop- erties frequently were less contaminat- ed than originally feared. City govern- continued on pae 7 Q Printed on recycled paper

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