New Law Affecting Landlords’ Obligations to Tenants

We have the following report, courtesy of Duanne Morris, LLP, posted at JD Supra:

New York has passed a law, effective December 3, 2008, which requires property owners and landlords to provide current and prospective tenants the results of environmental sampling conducted on the leased property [N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law (ECL) Section 27-2405]. The law requires notification of sampling results conducted on indoor air, as well as sub-slab groundwater and soil, when the test results exceed federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) or New York State Department of Health (“NYSDH”) indoor air guidelines. This law is intended to address the issue of vapor intrusion into tenant-occupied commercial and residential property in situations where contaminated soil or groundwater, located beneath a building slab or foundation, releases evaporated organic vapors that may enter and compromise the indoor air quality of any above grade enclosed structure.