General – Page 2 – Opportunity Zones – Insights From the Land of OZ

December 28, 2020December 28, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

ESG – The Potential for a Biden Administration and Bi-Partisan Climate Change Action in 2021

As we almost turn the page from 2020 to 2021, many have cause for optimism with regard to the incoming Biden Administration and the potential for bi-partisan climate change engagement and action. A hint of cautious optimism is, indeed, in the air.

Why???

President elect Biden campaigned on an ambitious climate action agenda and both R’s and D’s seem ready to address climate change and risk as part of a renewed focus on the environment.

President-elect Biden’s plans include re-engagement on various green energy and infrastructure projects and also include proposals to address environmental racism as part of the previously announced “Build Back Better” program.

So, what is first on the agenda:

Paris Accord – the U.S. will re-enter the Paris climate accord and will likely look to re-engage on various environmental regulatory rollbacks put into place by President Donald Trump — these can be done by executive action.

Other Executive Orders – President elect Biden has indicated an interest to limit oil and gas drilling on public lands and in public waters, increase gas mileage standards for vehicles and to block the construction of specific fossil fuel pipelines – these can also be done by executive order.

Legislation – much will depend on where the Georgia Senatorial run-off elections end up. If the Republican party is able to hold onto control of the Senate, however, there still appears to be interest by both parties for climate change policy.

Policy – Biden has also promised to pursue:

a 100% clean electricity standard by 2035 (a proposal that could mean the shuttering or total renovation of all coal-fired and gas-fired power plants in the U.S.);
Net Zero – attempting to get to net-zero emissions by 2050, at the latest.
Renewable Energy – a $2 trillion investment in renewable energy projects, with 40% of the funds benefiting communities of color that have been harmed by pollutants.
Green Infrastructure – coordinated systems based approach to agency procurement to focus across the Federal landscape of agencies (e.g., on
Transportation, Interior and the GSA) to help build new green infrastructure and incentivize developing green energy sources
State Department is likely to be used to focus other international powers to similarly focus on climate policy and carbon emissions.

Per reporting from ABC News, the Growing Climate Solutions Act, sponsored by Sens. Mike Braun, R-Ind.; Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., focuses on carbon-capture technologies in the agricultural sector, while Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Whitehouse have put together another bipartisan bill focused on increasing carbon-capture methods that occur naturally within ocean and coastal ecosystems.
Moreover, Reps. David McKinley, R-W.Va., and Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., have proposed a 10-year public and private partnership to invest in clean energy and infrastructure and subsequent new regulations.

Duane Morris has an active ESG and Sustainability Team to help organizations and individuals plan, respond to, and execute on Sustainability and ESG planning and initiatives within their own space. We would be happy to discussion your proposed project with you. Contact your Duane Morris attorney for more information.

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky, Sheila Slocum Hollis, Patrick Morand, Brad Thompson or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

December 24, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

ESG – The IOSCO announces support for establishment of a Sustainability Standards Board

Earlier this week, per reporting from ESG Today, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (“IOSCO”) sustainability task force announced it support for the establishment of a Sustainability Standards Board under the IFRS Foundation. A big step towards continued reporting and standardization of reporting methodology. #ESG #Sustainability #IFRS #IOSCO

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

December 22, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

COVID-19: Philadelphia Extends Indoor Restrictions until 1-15-2021

As of December 22, 2020, Philadelphia announced it will extend its previously announced restrictions on indoor dining, theaters, casinos and other indoor events until January 15, 2021.

Per the Philadelphia Business Journal, the extension prohibits indoor dining, indoor gatherings or events, theaters, casinos, colleges with in-person instruction and indoor organized sports from operating. These restrictions were previously set to expire on January 1, 2021.

Pennsylvania’s in place, state wide restrictions on indoor dining are set to expire on January 4, 2021. Philadelphia, given its size, has its own set of restrictions regarding indoor activities.

The Philadelphia Health Department advised that if case rates don’t rise more than expected, some “lower risk” activities like museums, outdoor sports, gyms, in-person learning at high schools and outdoor catered events will be permitted to resume on January 4, 2021.

For those indoor activities allowed to resume, capacity must be limited to fewer than five people per 1,000 square feet and masks must be worn at all times.

Duane Morris has created a COVID-19 Strategy Team to help organizations plan, respond to and address this fast-moving situation. Contact your Duane Morris attorney for more information. Prior Alerts on the topic are available on the team’s webpage.

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky, Elizabeth Mincer, Sharon Caffrey, or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

Be well and stay safe.

December 17, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

New Markets Tax Credits and Opportunity Zones – Bill Proposed in the US Senate to make NMTC Permanent and prioritize grant funding in OZs

Earlier this week, 4 Senators introduced legislation that would make the new markets tax credit (NMTC) permanent and would seek to encourage further investment in opportunity zones (OZs).

Senators Marco Rubio, R-Florida, Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Kelly Loeffler, R-Georgia, and Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, cosponsored the Economic Empowerment for Underserved Communities Act.

The bill, a summary of which is attached, makes the NMTC permanent with a $5 Billion annual allocation adjusted for inflation.

Per Novogradac and the Senator’s office announcement, the legislation also encourages investment in Opportunity Zones (“OZs) by establishing representatives to facilitate participation in the OZ program, prioritizes grant assistance in OZs through the Health Resource and Services Administration, allocates $7 Billion to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), establishes a Small Business Investment Company facility to enhance access to venture capital for underserved groups and businesses affected by COVID-19, and extends Small Business Administration debt relief provisions from the CARES Act.

The NMTC is authorized only through the calendar-year 2020 round.

Senator Loeffler’s office released a summary of the bill.

Duane Morris has an active Tax Credits and Opportunity Zone Team to help organizations and individuals plan, respond to, and invest in Opportunity Zones and low income areas throughout the USA, including the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico using tax credit equity and standard equity. We have closed over 61 OZ deals since their inception and are actively working on over 38 OZ projects for owner/developers, investors and business owners. We would be happy to discussion your proposed project with you. Contact your Duane Morris attorney for more information. Prior Alerts on the topic are available on the team’s webpage.

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky, Art Momjian, Scott Gluck, Lee Potter, Keli Isaacson Whitlock, Anastasios Kastrinakis, or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

December 15, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

New Markets Tax Credits – Expansion and Extension of $3.5 Billion proposed over the next 4 years – WOW!

Earlier this week on December 14, 2020, Reps. Terri Sewell, D-Alabama, and Tom Reed, R-New York, introduced legislation to extend and increase the new markets tax credit (NMTC).

The New Markets Stabilization Act would increase the NMTC allocation by $3.5 billion over four years, allow investors to carry back those credits for five years, exempt the NMTC from the 75% general business credit limitation, permanently exempt the NMTC from the alternative minimum tax and provide relief from certain debt modification rules for NMTC issuers and borrowers.

Per Novogradac, Sewell and Reed previously introduced legislation to make the NMTC permanent.

The NMTC expires at the end of this year, although the calendar-year 2020 round will be allocated next summer.

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky, Art Momjian, Scott Gluck, Lee Potter, Keli Isaacson Whitlock, AK Kastrinakis, or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

December 14, 2020December 14, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

HUD – 12-15-20 Webinar on Opportunity Zones 1-3 PM EST – Leveraging Public and Private Resources

Check Out tomorrow’s HUD webinar on OZs – If Opportunity Zones are of interest to you, come and join the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council and HUD for the third session of “Bolstering Growth in Opportunity Zones: Leveraging Public and Private Resources” focused on establishing policy tools and incentives, partnering with aligned organizations and measuring the impact, tomorrow, Tuesday, December 15, 2020 from 1:00 – 3:00 PM EST.

Registration is still open for Session 3: Develop Your OZ Action Plan to Build or Strengthen Your Local OZ Ecosystem.

Confirmed Speakers:
• Marc Alexander, Vice President, Investment Services, Invest Atlanta
• Stacy Cumberbatch, Managing Director, Blended Impact Labs
• Sherri Francois, Chief Impact Officer, SoLa Impact
• Ajit Mathew George, Founder, Second Chances Farm, LLC
• Dr. Eloisa Klementich, CEcD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Invest Atlanta
• Catherine Lyons, Director of Policy, Economic Innovation Group
• Dr. Leonard Mills, Chief Executive Officer, Verte Opportunity Fund
• Daffney Moore, Chief Opportunity Zone Officer, St. Louis Development Corporation
• Dr. Brien Walton, Chief Executive Officer, Acadia Capital Management, LLC

You must have a HUD Exchange account to register. Follow these instructions for registering.

Duane Morris has an active Opportunity Zone Team to help organizations and individuals plan, respond to, and invest in Opportunity Zones and low income areas throughout the USA, including the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. We have closed over 61 OZ deals since their inception and are actively working on over 38 OZ projects for owner/developers, investors and business owners. We would be happy to discussion your proposed project with you. Contact your Duane Morris attorney for more information. Prior Alerts on the topic are available on the team’s webpage.

December 10, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

ESG – United Airlines makes significant carbon sequestration Joint Venture investment – with a goal to be 100% carbon neutral by 2050

Carbon Sequestration – United Airlines announced earlier today, Thursday, December 10, 2020 that it is making a “multi-million dollar investment” into carbon capture and sequestration technology, a move they say will help them reach a goal of 100% carbon-free by 2050.

United said it is developing the carbon sequestration technology through a joint venture with Occidental and Rusheen Capital Management.

Known as “direct air capture,” the technology is intended to capture carbon dioxide from the air and, thereafter, store it underground.

“As the leader of one of the world’s largest airlines, I recognize our responsibility in contributing to fight climate change, as well as our responsibility to solve it,” reads a statement from United Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby.

Per NJ Biz, United is one of the largest employers in New Jersey, and uses Newark Liberty International Airport as one of its major hubs. Their air traffic makes up close to 70% of the flights in and out of the airport.

Airlines typically account for approximately 3% of worldwide carbon emission, even with the significantly reduced COVID-19 pandemic impacted travel.

If airlines were all aggregated together and compared to countries internationally, they would place 6th out of all countries in the world in terms of negative emissions impact. Moreover, while aircraft have become much more fuel efficient since the 1970’s, they have significantly increased their collective emissions – increasing by 70% the amount of carbon emissions from 2005 to 2020.

The Murphy administration’s announced goal is to move NJ towards a 100% clean and renewable sourcing of energy by 2050, including solar and offshore wind capacity.

Duane Morris has an active Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Team to help clients and NGOs, respond to, and evaluate ESG, sustainability, energy efficiency and climate change risks, regulations and mandates as well as counsels on how to structure investments in various verticals that are creating technology that responds to the issues posed by Climate Change and ESG.

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky, Seth Cooley, David Amerikaner or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

December 10, 2020December 10, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

New Markets Tax Credits – Record Number of 2020 Applications; $5B in credits to be awarded

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced earlier this week that it received 208 applications under the calendar year (CY) 2020 round of the New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC Program).

Per Treasury, the NMTC Program advances economic development in economically distressed communities by making tax credit allocations available to Community Development Entities (CDEs) for targeted investments in eligible areas.

The CDEs that applied under the CY 2020 round are headquartered in 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These applicants requested an aggregate total of $15.1 billion in NMTC allocation authority, over 3x the $5.0 billion in authority available for the 2020 round.

Created by Congress in December of 2000, the NMTC Program permits individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a credit against federal income taxes for making qualified equity investments in CDEs. The investor is provided a tax credit that equals 39% of the cost of the investment and is claimed over a seven-year period. Substantially all of the taxpayer’s investment must be used by the CDE to make qualified investments in low-income communities.

According to Treasury statistics, through the first 16 rounds of the NMTC Program, the CDFI Fund has made 1,254 awards totaling $61 billion in tax credit allocation authority. This $61 billion includes $3 billion in Recovery Act Awards and $1 billion of special allocation authority to be used for the recovery and redevelopment of the Gulf Opportunity Zone.

Duane Morris has an active Tax Credits and Opportunity Zone Team to help CDCs and other organizations and individuals plan, respond to, and invest in typical deals as well as Opportunity Zones and low income areas throughout the USA, including the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. We have closed over 61 OZ deals since their inception and are actively working on over 38 OZ projects for owner/developers, investors and business owners. We would be happy to discussion your proposed project with you. Contact your Duane Morris attorney for more information. Prior Alerts on the topic are available on the team’s webpage.

December 4, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

PSEG invests in a 25% interest of Ocean Wind – the $1.7B Wind Project off the NJ Coast

Public Service Enterprise Group announced earlier today, Friday, December 4, 2020, that it will invest in a 25% share of Ocean Wind, the $1.7 billion, 1,100-megawatt wind energy project off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Ocean Wind is owned by Ørsted North America, and is anticipated to provide 500,000 households with energy when operational.

It’s the first of three tranches of 7,500 megawatts in offshore wind the Murphy administration is aiming to have in the state’s energy capacity by 2050.

The operation and maintenance of the Ocean Wind facility is expected to create over 65 full-time jobs during the 25-year lifecycle of the project, according to Gabriel Martinez, a spokesperson for Ørsted.

In June, according to NJBIZ, Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled a 200-acre “wind port” in Salem County on the Delaware Bay, where the wind turbines will be produced and shipped out across the Jersey Shore.

The facility will be located in Lower Alloway Creek Township, adjacent to PSEG’s Hope Creek Nuclear Generation Station – at a facility PSEG already owns. The site is within a mile of a designated federal Opportunity Zone and could spur some additional development within the nearby zone.

Duane Morris has an active Opportunity Zone Team to help CDCs and other organizations and individuals plan, respond to, and invest in Opportunity Zones and low income areas throughout the USA, including the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. We have closed over 45 OZ deals since their inception and are actively working on over 54 OZ projects for owner/developers, investors and business owners. We would be happy to discussion your proposed project with you. Contact your Duane Morris attorney for more information. Prior Alerts on the topic are available on the team’s webpage.

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky, Scott Gluck, Lee Potter, Keli Isaacson Whitlock, AK Kastrinakis, Art Momjian or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

September 25, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

Treasury awards $204.1M in CDFI Funds to Low Income Native American Communities

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced and awarded 397 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) $204.1 million in awards.

The awards, through the fiscal year (FY) 2020 round of the Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program) and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program), will enable CDFIs to increase lending and investment activity in low-income and economically distressed communities across the nation.

“I am proud to announce the fiscal year 2020 CDFI Program and NACA Program Award Recipients,” said CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris. “These organizations are providing vital economic development and financial services to neighborhoods, businesses, and families. I am especially proud that we have 91 new organizations receiving awards this year, expanding the opportunity of this program to even more communities across the country.”

The CDFI Program invests in and builds the capacity of CDFIs to serve low-income people and communities lacking adequate access to affordable financial products and services.

For the FY 2020 CDFI Program round, the CDFI Fund awarded $142.8 million in Base-Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance awards to 357 organizations in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. In addition to the Base-Financial Assistance awards, the CDFI Fund will also provide the following supplemental Financial Assistance awards:

• $22 million to 13 CDFIs through the Healthy Food Financing Initiative-Financial Assistance (HFFI-FA) awards, a supplemental program designed to encourage investments in businesses that provide healthy food options for communities;

• $4 million to 17 CDFIs through the Disability Funds-Financial Assistance (DF-FA) awards, a supplemental program designed to help CDFIs finance projects and services that will assist individuals with disabilities; and

• $18.5 million to 106 CDFIs through the Persistent Poverty Counties-Financial Assistance (PPC-FA) awards, which is a supplemental program designed to encourage investments in Persistent Poverty Counties nationwide.

The NACA Program facilitates the creation and advancement of Native CDFIs, which are Certified CDFIs that must predominantly serve Native American, Alaska Native, and/or Native Hawaiian communities. A diversity of institutions in various stages of development are supported by the NACA Program, including: organizations in the early planning stages of CDFI formation; tribal entities working to certify an existing lending program; and established Native CDFIs in need of further capacity building assistance.

Per Treasury’s press release, the CDFI Fund awarded $15.2 million in FY 2020 NACA Program Base-Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance awards to 40 organizations in 18 states. In addition, the CDFI Fund awarded $1.6 million in NACA Program PPC-FA awards to 11 Native CDFIs.