Entry by JoeDerhake The winter Environmental Bankers Association (EBA) meeting just concluded in Orlando, Florida.   The EBA is celebrating its 20th year as an organization.  Thank you to Jeff and Tacy Telego for running this business for 20 years! A few highlights from the meeting: Bank Regulators and Environmental:  The new OCC Commercial Real Estate…

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry The OCC’s new Commercial Real Estate Lending Booklet, which contains guidelines for commercial real estate loan concentrations and sound risk management practices for banks, is now well and truly in effect. The document was released on August 20, 2013 to replace a booklet published in 1995. This was the first time…

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry As the Phase I Environmental Assessment continues to bounce back after the recession, we are all looking for staff.  Three years ago no one was hiring Environmental Professionals.   Now we’re seeing a hole in our pipeline of talent.   At the same time, we have a large number of veterans returning…

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry With the House preparing for a vote tonight, I think I speak on behalf of the entire due diligence industry when I say I hope the Government reopens soon! As we all know, environmental due diligence requires review of data, historical records and other files obtained from a range of government…

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry With the House preparing for a vote tonight, I think I speak on behalf of the entire due diligence industry when I say I hope the Government reopens soon! As we all know, environmental due diligence requires review of data, historical records and other files obtained from a range of government…

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry The 2013 summer Environmental Bankers Association (EBA) meeting was held in San Francisco earlier this week.  As always, Jeff and Tacy Telego put on a well organized conference.   A few key take away: Phase II Environmental Site Assessments My colleague Kathryn Peacock was on a panel that examined the results of…

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry   What if you are doing two Phase I Environmental Reports and run into the exact same environmental issue, one site in Mexicali and one site in Calexico?   Would you treat these issues the same?   First, Mexicali is a Mexican border down about 100 miles east of San Diego; this might…

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry   What if you are doing two Phase I Environmental Reports and run into the exact same environmental issue, one site in Mexicali and one site in Calexico?   Would you treat these issues the same?   First, Mexicali is a Mexican border down about 100 miles east of San Diego; this might…

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry   The SBA recently updated their SOP 50 57 Loan Liquidation and the updated policy takes effect March 1, 2013.    All good environmental professionals must keep up on little changes in our practice of Phase I Environmental Site Assessments whether the changes are driven by ASTM, SBA, or another lender standard.   …

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry   Industrial properties are expected to be a hot sector in 2013 – in part due to the increase in eCommerce and the resulting need for warehousing facilities near transportation hubs to handle the distribution of goods purchased online.  My colleague Jay Grenfell recently wrote a blog on industrial properties and…