In April 2020, SEMARNAT published the Accord by means of which the public is made aware of the days that will be considered as non-business days for purposes of the acts and administrative procedures ...
Commercial real estate professionals live in a world where single-asset entities (SAEs) are ubiquitous. In this respect, the niche market of HUD-affiliated health care facilities follows suit. Skilled nursing or assisted living facility owners seeking HUD-insured financing and the operators overseeing day-to-day functions at those facilities generally need to be SAEs to participate in the HUD programs ...
Here’s a fun conversation starter for lenders, borrowers and attorneys who regularly work on HUD-insured multifamily and health care facility loans: If HUD had a list of Ten Commandments for obtaining a HUD-insured loan, what would be Commandment No. 1? Most professionals in the HUD-insured loan universe would likely put the “first lien” requirement at or near the top of the list of Ten Commandments ...
On January 27, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) voted to provide interpretive guidance on SEC disclosure requirements as they apply to business or legal developments relating to the issue of climate change ...
Intending to provide clear reporting obligations for issuers, and to provide consistent, comparable, and decision-useful information for investors, on March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a landmark climate disclosure rule that would mandate SEC registrants to disclose greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and certain materials risks relating to climate change ...
In late September, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance continued signaling the increased importance of ESG initiatives in its mission by publishing a sample comment letter similar to what it may provide to issuers when reviewing their filings ...
On February 2, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced guidance regarding public companies’ disclosure obligations related to climate change.1 On February 8, 2010, the SEC published that guidance in the Federal Register, at which time it became effective. As a result, calendar year-end companies with upcoming annual reports on Form 10-K should evaluate whether their disclosures concerning climate change are consistent with the new guidance ...
With the new year comes a new president. Will the new year and administration also bring new water policy? Bet on it. Just as President Trump undid President Obama’s signature water policy decision—the Clean Water Rule, which clarified and arguably expanded federal water permitting jurisdiction—President Biden is likely to rewind many of President Trump’s water policy (and, more generally, environmental policy) decisions over the next four or more years ...
The Scottish Government is proposing to overhaul Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) - giving building owners and occupiers more information than ever before. The potential reforms aim to be targeted and useful – helping pave a clear and achievable path towards achieving net zero. On 25 July 2023, the Scottish Government published its consultation on reforming domestic and non-domestic EPCs to ensure they support future regulations on heat in buildings ...
Sheelagh Cooley, real estate partner at Shoosmiths, comments on the successful Scottish green freeport bids - Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport and Forth Green Freeport. The Scottish and UK governments have announced Scotland’s first Green Freeports ...
The oil and gas sector has seen significant changes over the past few years, led by a significant reduction in global oil prices. This has increased the focus on operational efficiency and more flexible ways of working collaboratively to alleviate the effects of protracted price deflation ...
While water resource management can, ironically, be one of the driest of topics in mixed company, thefuture supply of fresh water is becoming an increasingly critical global issue. This week experts from around the globe are converging on Dundeefor an international conference, discussing security and sustainability issues around water ...
The final phase of the Esterra Park development in Redmond, Washington, is a carbon-neutral development. Schwabe client JTM Construction is the general contractor for that project. As attorneys, we are interested in staying up to date on market trends, so we asked JTM to put together a panel to brief Schwabe’s Real Estate and Construction industry group on the carbon-neutral aspects of the project ...
The SBA has published a notice of “Tribal Consultation for Ownership and Control and Contractual Assistance; Requirements for the 8(a) Business Development (BD) Program and other Planned 8(a) BD Program Regulatory Proposals.” The notice states that SBA is “planning to issue a proposed rule concerning the 8(a) BD program regulations . . ...
On January 3, 2018, San Francisco’s State Senator Scott Wiener introduced a bill (SB 827) that would all but abolish the city’s famously strict land use controls—and those of virtually all California’s urban neighborhoods. It is considered the most radical of all the pro-housing legislation introduced during the last year in California ...
On May 23rd, Governor Abbott signed SB 709, fundamentally changing Texas’s contested hearing process for environmental permits. Effective September 1, SB 709 requires the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to adopt rules implementing its changes by no later than January 1, 2016 and to provide notice before then that these changes apply to applications filed after September 1 ...
Last week, State Senator Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) announced new legislation intended to immediately encourage more residential construction in areas near public transit and job centers. Entitled the More Housing, Opportunity, Mobility, Equity and Stability (More HOMES) Act, SB 50 is essentially version 2.0 of SB 827, a similar housing bill proposed by Senator Weiner that failed in committee earlier this year ...
The Oregon Senate will soon be deciding on a bill that would allow an owner of a lot or parcel at least two acres in size in an area zoned rural residential to build an accessory dwelling unit, or “ADU,” on that lot or parcel, provided there is already a single-family dwelling on the lot or parcel ...
The Ministry of Production (Produce), through the National Fisheries Health Agency (Sanipes), issued a guide with preventive measures to be implemented by operators of fishing and aquaculture infrastructures during the exercise of their activities against the expansion of COVID -19 ...
As of January 20th, 2019, San Francisco no longer requires a minimum number of parking spaces in new structures or new uses. This new law applies Citywide to all zoning districts. Previously, the City eliminated the parking requirement in many zoning districts in order to reduce traffic congestion, encourage alternative forms of transportation, and lower the cost to build housing ...
Capturing lightning in a bottle: As fast-growing San Francisco concludes its largest rezoning in 10 years, will its novel new urban-planning guidelines for South of Market represent what the city's downtown needs in a fast-moving business, cultural and economic environment? In early December 2018, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors gave final approval of the "Central SOMA Plan," (the Plan) resulting in the largest rezoning of the commercial heart of the city since the renowned Downt
San Francisco Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Rafael Mandelman introduced the "Housing Preservation and Expansion Reform Act" in December 2018, a proposed law which hopes to limit major renovations and demolitions plus limit the size of newly built or newly altered residential structures. The two sponsors believe the current process results in too many larger units and demolitions, and that there is a connection between the two ...
On July 18, the Board of Supervisors passed a new law that changes the affordable housing requirements relating to the construction of market rate units. The new law affects new market rate housing developments of 25 or more dwellings units and expands the amount of affordable housing that will be oriented toward the middle income wage earner ...
On April 16, 2019, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA). The Mayor signed the legislation on May 3, 2019. COPA grants certain qualified nonprofit organizations the right of first offer and right of first refusal on sales of privately-owned buildings with three or more residential units and privately-owned property on which three or more residential units could be built ...
