New York Passes New Law Requiring Environmental Disclosure

In December 2008, a new law in New York will go into effect requiring property owners and landlords to disclose the results of environmental testing to current and prospective tenants. While New York is the first state to enact legislation of this type, we wanted to pass along this interesting development and share some possible ramifications with you.

While the New York law seems to be focused on indoor air contamination and vapor intrusion, "test results" is broadly defined to include any tests conducted on indoor air, outdoor air, groundwater and soils beneath homes and buildings. Owners and landlords of both residential and commercial properties must disclose test results that exceed federal or state air guidelines. Furthermore, certain properties in New York for which an engineering control is in place to address contamination and properties that are subject to ongoing monitoring under a remediation program must provide written notice of the testing in bold on