Pre-Conference Workshop

A Magnificent Evolution of Florida’s Brownfields Program – Expansion and Acceleration of Remediation, Redevelopment, and Reuse Under HB 733

Workshop Description:

The 2025 Florida Legislature enacted HB 733 with strong bipartisan support, was approved unanimously by the House and Senate, and became effective July 1, 2025.  The legislation creates new opportunities for local governments to rehabilitate and redevelop a broader universe of municipally owned sites that would have previously been disqualified, establishes an easier pathway to Brownfields Program eligibility for Superfund sites, and, perhaps most importantly, authorizes an unprecedented right to achieve early closure of contaminated properties that were historically part of a larger contaminated site.  This “early closure” feature of HB 733 will arguably bring about the most transformative change to Chapter 62-780, F.A.C., since the rule was first promulgated and has implications for how sites are defined, how assessments are conducted, how technical demonstrations need to be made, and the timing for when No Further Action Proposals should be submitted and Declarations of Restrictive Covenants recorded.  There are significant financial advantages as well. Persons receiving Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credits pursuant to what would have been a multiparty BSRA may now be able to double or triple their gross VCTC award.  Special emphasis will be placed on how to properly analyze application of HB 733 to existing projects to take advantage of its retroactivity and how to plan for new projects to shorten timeframes to regulatory closure, maximize tax credit recovery, and accelerate remediation and reuse of sites that are eligible for participation in Florida’s Brownfields Program only as of July 1, 2025. This is a very timely workshop with a panel of top practitioners in the field who were involved every step of the way in the drafting of the legislation and its successful advancement through the Florida House and Senate.  Do not miss your chance to receive important insight into how the bill came together, how the legislation works, and how it can and should be utilized to benefit your clients, constituents, and/or communities.

Moderator: Michael R. Goldstein, Esq., Managing Shareholder, The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A.

Panelists:

Howard Nelson, Esq., Partner, Head of Environmental Practice, Bilzin Sumberg

Kerri Barsh, Esq., Co-Chair Environmental Practice, GreenbergTraurig

Jennifer Farrell, P.G.,  Program Administrator, Waste Cleanup Program, Florida Department of Environmental Protection (Invited)

Wilbur Mayorga, Chief, Pollution Remediation Section, Miami-Dade County DERM (Invited)

Michael R. Goldstein, Esq., Managing Shareholder, The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A.

Michael R. Goldstein, Managing Shareholder of The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A., and a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent and Chambers and Partners rated attorney, practices exclusively in the areas of environmental law and environmental redevelopment for a broad range of clients, including retail, residential, and industrial developers, public and private companies, real estate funds, lenders, and local governments. A major aspect of Mr. Goldstein’s environmental legal practice involves support of real estate and business transactions, including managing pre-acquisition and pre-leasing due diligence investigations; structuring, negotiating, and drafting environmental provisions in purchase, lease, and development agreements; and assisting lenders evaluate and limit the risk of exposure to environmental liability in connection with new loans and potential foreclosures. In addition, he works closely and extensively with real estate development principals and engineering, planning, and design professionals to help coordinate federal, state and local regulatory approvals for complex retail, industrial, residential, mixed use, and marina related projects throughout the State of Florida. 

Mr. Goldstein’s practice has a heavy emphasis on the remediation, financing, and beneficial reuse of contaminated sites and involves a broad array of Brownfields related transactional, administrative, regulatory, legal, legislative, and policy work for clients in both the private and public sectors. He has developed a national reputation as one of the leading and most innovative Brownfields practitioners in Florida, working on important and precedent establishing projects as well as heading up or participating in numerous local, regional, state, and federal environmental restoration initiatives. On a statewide level, Mr. Goldstein was the founding Chairman of the Florida Brownfields Association and served as its Chairman and/or President for the first five years of the organization’s existence. Mr. Goldstein’s tenure as Chairman and President was distinguished by his commitment to elevating environmental justice and public health as critical areas of emphasis for business, community, regulatory agency, and local government stakeholders. In 1996, the Miami-Dade County Commission appointed him Chairman of the Miami-Dade County Brownfields Task Force, a post that he held until the committee’s business was completed in 2004. In January 2006, Mr. Goldstein was appointed to serve on the Advisory Board of the Bureau of National Affair’s highly respected Environmental Due Diligence Guide, which serves as a national reporting, editorial, and opinion forum for environmental transactions and related Brownfields and policy matters. In 2008, he founded and funded the Goldstein Brownfields Foundation, which is dedicated to empowering economically and health disadvantaged individuals and communities with scholarships, programming, and resources to restore polluted land, revitalize neighborhoods, and protect public health. The Goldstein Brownfields Foundation also focuses on increasing the ethnic and gender diversity of lawyers working in the environmental arena through academic scholarships, educational and career programming, and professional mentoring. In 2009, Mr. Goldstein was appointed to the Executive Committee of the National Brownfields Coalition, an affiliation of private and public sector stakeholders working in the U.S. Congress to advocate for improvements in environmental redevelopment policy and legislation. 

Howard Nelson, Esq., Partner, Head of Environmental Practice, Bilzin Sumberg

Howard E. Nelson has more than 30 years of experience in environmental law, land development, zoning, and regional planning. He represents clients throughout all phases of the development process from site location through permitting and construction, as well as in permit appeals and defense of environmental enforcement matters. Howard focuses a substantial portion of his practice to the analysis and remediation of site contamination issues, representing several national homebuilders in pre-acquisition site analysis and contamination remediation. He works closely with environmental professionals in the formulation of appropriate diligence inquiries and the preparation of remedial strategies designed to reduce costs and time frames for completion of projects. Howard also represents a variety of non-residential developers and industries with respect to contamination assessment and remediation issues. Howard has extensive experience in representing clients in complex wetland matters, including issues related to protected and sensitive wetlands and preservation efforts. In addition to traditional permitting for wetlands and other natural resources, Howard has substantial experience in wetland litigation and enforcement defense, both locally and throughout the state.

Kerri Barsh, Esq., Co-Chair Environmental Practice, GreenbergTraurig

Kerri L. Barsh is Co-Chair of the firm’s Environmental Practice and represents public and private clients on an array of environmental regulatory, permitting and litigation matters, including transactional support and due diligence, environmental assessment and liability matters, climate change, energy and infrastructure projects, wetlands and coastal permitting, complex land use projects, air quality matters, hazardous materials contamination, and other compliance and enforcement cases. 

• Climate change
• Environmental compliance, permitting, enforcement, including litigation support
• Transactional environmental work (counseling, due diligence, drafting and negotiation of reps and warrants, disclosures, and indemnities)
• Energy and infrastructure projects, including due diligence, permitting, and NEPA review
• Natural resource mining, permitting and siting
• Brownfields counseling and development
• Electrical generation facilities (power plant and transmission line siting)
• Air quality matters (drafting of contractual protections, remedial assistance and litigation support)
• Land use and comprehensive plan approvals, including litigation
• Landfills (siting, permitting and related regulatory matters)
• Legislation drafting (statutes, ordinances and rules)
• Administrative litigation, including rule-making and permitting challenges
• Global energy and infrastructure
• Catastrophe planning and response