Alabama joined a number of other states dealing with environmental covenants when it enacted the Alabama Uniform Environmental Covenants Act, effective January 1, 2008. Ala. Code§35-19-1 et seq. (“Act”).The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (“ADEM”) has been working on implementing regulations, which are expected to mimic the Act and be released in the next few months. ADEM will also charge a fee for implementation and oversight of the program and covenants.

For those not familiar with the concept, in many situations environmental contamination cannot be completely addressed by total removal (clean closure) of the offending soil or remediation of the groundwater to a level allowed for unrestricted use.  Some amount or concentration of contamination must be left behind. In those situations, EPA and ADEM will require additional measures, such as land use controls or continuing monitoring and maintenance. The idea is that if property has contamination on it unsuitable for a residential housing development or the construction of a school, those interested in buying or developing the property are put on notice of the limit of the property to commercial or industrial use.  These controls and obligations are often embodied in deed restrictions or recorded declarations which could be terminated by various common law mechanisms; therefore, the Uniform Environmental Covenants Act was created to provide a mechanism by which environmental covenants and land use restrictions survive the potential fatal operations of the common law. States were encouraged to adopt the uniform act, and Alabama has now done so.

An “Environmental Covenant” is defined as “[a] servitude arising under an environmental response project that imposes activity and use limitations.” Ala. Code § 35-19-2(5). Such “environmental response projects” can arise under state or federal hazardous waste cleanup laws, such as CERCLA, RCRA, or Alabama’s version of brownfields.

Before the Act was passed, ADEM still required a restrictive covenant or deed of some kind when contaminants were being left behind, but it was never sure what might happen to the restriction upon a subsequent sale of the property because it had no enforcement authority. If the property changed hands several times, there was no manner by which ADEM could require the Seller and the Buyer to maintain that restriction as a part of the sale. With the Act, there is a “holder” of the covenant which can enforce the covenant, and ADEM has enforcement power even if it is not a holder. A holder can be any person, a governmental agency (such as ADEM), an environmental group, or a unit of local government. The interest of a holder is considered to be an interest in real property; however, the Department’s interest in a covenant, unless it becomes a holder, will not be considered to be an interest in real property. There are certain elements that each covenant must meet in order to be effective, and those are clearly set out in the Act. Importantly, each environmental covenant requires at least one holder, and a holder can be the fee simple owner and/or the grantor of the covenant.

If, at the time an environmental covenant is recorded or registered, the Act does not abrogate the common-law doctrine of “first in time, first in right” as it relates to prior and valid property interests. If there are other interests in the subject real property with priority over the covenant, unless the prior interest in the property is made subordinate to the covenant by the owner of such interest, then the prior interest is not affected.

The grantor of an environmental covenant has a statutory responsibility to notify certain persons or entities of the covenant. Specifically, the grantor must provide a copy of the covenant to (i) each person signing the covenant; (ii) each person with a “recorded interest” in the subject property; (iii) each tenant or person in possession of the subject property; and (iv) each county or municipality in which the real property is located (normally the county or municipal office where deeds are recorded, such as the probate office). You also have the option of filing the covenant with ADEM (it keeps a registry), and then filing a notice with the county probate office in lieu of the entire covenant.

Environmental covenants are perpetual although there are exceptions set out in the Act, such as if the covenant itself has a specified length of time, a condition allowing termination is satisfied, or a court is petitioned for its modification. Of course, one always has the option of conducting additional remediation of the property to reach unrestricted use standards, which would then allow for termination of the covenant.

The author wishes to acknowledge the contributions made to this article by Bryan Nichols of Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C.

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) has submitted for legislative approval regulations to control carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and establish a CO₂ emissions credit program.[i] The controversial regulations are designed to fulfill Connecticut’s commitment to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (“RGGI”), which establishes a CO₂ emissions cap and trade program for power plants in nine Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states.[ii] RGGI is designed to be a model for a broader, national market-driven program to establish a market value for greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions to provide incentives for reducing GHG emissions over the long term.

Carbon dioxide is the most significant GHG by volume. Unlike many other pollutants emitted by the combustion of fossil fuels, there are no commercially available control technologies to limit CO₂ emissions. Therefore, programs to reduce GHG emissions focus on improving energy efficiency, reducing the use of fossil fuels through conservation efforts, and using renewable and alternative fuels.

The regulations impose a tonnage cap on CO₂ emissions from large fossil fuel-fired electricity generating units in Connecticut. The initial tonnage cap is 10.7 million tons. The regulations seek to stabilize CO₂ emissions from these units in 2009-2014, then reduce those emissions by 2.5% per year in 2015-2018 from the electric utility sector. The regulations allow allocation of emissions offsets to be used for compliance where real reduction of greenhouse gases are achieved outside the regulated utility sector. They require auctioning of CO₂ allowances and the use of auction proceeds for consumer benefit or strategic energy purposes as required by Conn. Gen. Stat. § 22a-200c.Finally, the regulations require a demonstration of compliance every three years.

The regulations must be approved by the Legislative Regulations Review Committee of the General Assembly before they can become effective. Significant controversy surrounds several of the key provisions which have been opposed by companies with electric generating facilities in the state.

One concern is that the CO₂ allowance costs will push the price of electricity up for consumers, despite industry investments in energy efficiency. Critics of the regulation advocate direct per kilowatt-hour rate relief, which is not provided in the proposed regulations.

A second problem for the electric generating companies is the Department’s refusal to limit auction participation to RGGI regulated sources – the owners and operators of fossil-fueled electric generating facilities. DEP fears that closed auctions might result in lower prices for carbon allowances, due to lessened competition. However, with no cap on auction allowance prices, the regulated entities fear that financial speculators may drive up the price of this new commodity. There is also a significant concern that environmental organizations could purchase these allowances and “retire” them by taking them off the market, driving up the price of the remaining carbon allowances and possibly creating a shortage. Historical data suggests that generators in Connecticut may need 94% of the available allowances in 2009 in order to operate at levels expected to meet demand.

Another significant issue is that the proposed Connecticut regulations provide no cap or ceiling on the auction price for the CO₂ allowances. DEP estimates that the allowance price in 2009 will be approximately $2 per ton, increasing to $5 per ton in 2024. The allowance price will have a direct impact on electric rates.

The anticipated rate impact prompted Maine, New Hampshire, and New Jersey to establish cap mechanisms to protect consumers. Maine established a limit of $5 per ton, the highest price estimated by Connecticut DEP, beyond which auction proceeds would be applied to kilowatt-hour rebates to ratepayers. New Hampshire is establishing a $6 per ton rate cap, above which funds would be rebated to consumers, similar to the Maine auction provisions. New Jersey has mandated that if two consecutive regional auctions result in allowance prices above $7 per ton, an action plan must be developed for ratepayer relief.

Finally, the regulations provide that DEP will retain 7.5% of the funds realized from the auctions for administrative costs and programs to mitigate the impacts of climate change, despite the fact that the agency concedes that it only needs a quarter of this retainage to cover the administrative costs of the program.

The proposed regulations were submitted to the Regulations Review Committee on June 6, 2008. The Committee has 65 days to approve, recommend modifications, or reject the proposed regulations. Whether the regulations will be in place before the first RGGI auction scheduled in September remains to be seen.