Ryer Associates continues to advocate for the commercial real estate industry through efforts to improve Connecticut’s Transfer Act (TA). In 2019, the Connecticut legislature passed modifications to the TA, exempting most one-time generators of hazardous waste and shortening the state review period. It is expected that these changes will improve the ability of many impacted commercial sites to transfer and once again become productive assets to the state.
The TA was adopted in 1985 to mandate identification and cleanup of potentially contaminated sites by requiring certain uses (irrespective of whether an actual contamination event occurred at the site) to comply with investigation and reporting requirements. These requirements have been viewed as onerous and blamed for causing, at least in part, many commercial/industrial sites to stagnate.
Efforts to improve the Act have been ongoing since its inception, and in 2019 significant changes were approved with legislative commitments to further align the Act toward improving economic growth while maintaining public health and quality of the environment. The importance of these changes was recognized by the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce which awarded its 2019 Legislative Leadership Award to the Transfer Act Working Group.
As a member of the Transfer Act Working Group, Jeff Ryer, SIOR, CCIM has been an integral part of the effort. His insights as a commercial broker on the practical impacts of the TA have helped focus the discussion toward improvements that could have broad, far-reaching impacts on the state’s commercial real estate industry and economy.
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