Jesse Hiney provides counsel to a broad spectrum of developers, investors, and businesses in all aspects of environmental law, including brownfield redevelopment, hazardous and solid waste, and occupational health and safety matters. His practice centers on the evaluation and allocation of environmental risk in a transactional setting. Jesse advises on complex business and asset acquisitions, sales and financings.

In addition, Jesse has extensive experience performing due diligence for real estate transactions complicated by environmental issues, counseling on brownfield redevelopment and contaminated property cleanup, advising on environmental insurance products, and negotiation with federal, state and local authorities on permit applications and procurement, and environmental enforcement proceedings.

In addition to providing environmental advice, Jesse counsels real estate developers and end-users regarding economic development incentives in the form of PILOTs, sales- and use-tax exemptions and partial mortgage recording fee exemptions available through county and local Industrial Development Agencies.

A smart and practical professional advising sophisticated clients, Jesse draws upon his first-hand experience as in-house counsel for a private water utility and a national environmental and emergency-response contractor, as well as through private legal practice for two global 100 law firms to provide well-rounded advice.

Experience

• Successfully represented owner of a former chemical drum storage warehouse and paint mixing facility in Brooklyn, NY in its application to the state Brownfield Cleanup Program (“BCP”). The application and eligibility to the BCP was complicated by a “P-site” listing in the state’s registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites.
• Advise industrial property owner in sale of long-held property impacted by an upgradient source of emerging contaminants. Structured environmental diligence program to successfully characterize environmental conditions and allocated environmental risk via contract and insurance to allow transaction to proceed.
• Counsel prospective purchaser of a state BCP site in Brooklyn in its application to amend an existing BCP Agreement to authorize purchaser, upon acquisition, to complete remediation and development of the BCP site and obtain tax credit and liability protection incentives afforded a BCP volunteer.
• Represent seller in negotiation of post-closing escrow environmental agreement and environmental insurance program to minimize post-sale potential environmental liability.
• Permit TSD facility portfolio for leading environmental-emergency response operator.
• Counsel real estate owner, operator, developer in application to Nassau County Industrial Development Agency to receive economic incentives on development of an approximately 145,000 warehouses.
• Prepare Industrial Development Agency (IDA) application for financial assistance and represent real estate developer before IDA board to obtain PILOT and sales and use tax exemptions for the development of a multi-family residential development with affordable component.