With the enactment of this important legislation, its impact on environmental regulation and policy will be carefully analyzed by the regulated community. Such a review may be hampered by the fact that the law is not only complex but also very long (over 2000 pages!). The Infrastructure Act is mostly…
President Biden signs a new executive order, investments in digital real estate continue to increase, the real estate industry faces new regulatory scrutiny, and more. President Biden signs a new executive order that the US government will be a net zero contributor to the environment by 2050, including 300,000 federally…
On November 19, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376), a bill that represents a large portion of the Biden-Harris Administration’s agenda. Among other spending and tax measures, the bill includes an unprecedented expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. Four…
In a mixed decision for international investors, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) recently published a tribunal’s award finding that the Republic of Colombia breached its obligations under the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement when it blocked Eco Oro Minerals Corporation’s mining project in an effort to protect…
Investment firms turn their attention towards acquiring digital land, China works to manage its real estate debt, the European Union announces a multibillion-euro infrastructure bill, and more. A growing number of investment firms are acquiring digital land in virtual worlds like Sandbox and Decentraland, betting that as more individuals and…
The courts have issued several new and significant rulings on environmental and administrative law the past few weeks. U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association, Inc. v. EPA On November 12, 2021, the DC Circuit held in a divided ruling that neither Section…
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, has written to newly confirmed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra, asking him to review companies in the tenant screening industry for possible Fair Credit Reporting Act violations and other violations of U.S.…
President Biden signs the bipartisan infrastructure bill into law, plants like hemp and algae could help minimize the environmental footprint of high-rise buildings, construction groups sue over the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) new vaccine rule, and more. The global architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill presented Urban Sequoia…
We interrupt our usual scrutiny of the courts to focus (mostly) on the important developments in notices and rulemaking issued by and concerning federal regulatory agencies and departments in the past several weeks. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) On August 30, 2021, the U.S. District Court for Arizona, in a summary…
The Real Estate and Construction industry may be huge, but ultimately, as with all industries, it comes down to the people who help make it all come together. From time to time, we like to profile some of those people. Joe Rich is CIO and a senior vice president at…