Taft is pleased to announce that it has formed a team focused on brownfield and site development of property that has the presence or potential presence of environmental contamination. The team is dedicated to assisting individuals, businesses, real estate developers, municipalities and others with the acquisition, disposition and redevelopment of real property for reuse, revitalization or restoration.

The team represents many different types of clients involved with the acquisition, disposition and redevelopment of brownfield sites and provides solutions on how to address potential liability.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response Contamination and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 has historically been a significant barrier to the purchase, sale and renewal of brownfield sites because the act imposes strict liability upon several broad classes of parties, including the owners and operators of contaminated sites. The Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser (BFPP) defense addressed this problem through the creation of a statutory exemption to the liability under CERCLA.

“The BFPP defense was established to mitigate the risks and maximize the outcomes of acquiring, disposing and redeveloping brownfield sites,” said David L. Guevara, chair of the group. “The BFPP defense has had an enormous impact on local economic development; in other words, money that would otherwise be syphoned off and used for environmental cleanup is instead being used on hard and soft infrastructure, the growth of existing businesses and the emergence of new businesses.”