Office Location
451 South State Street
Room 418
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Business Hours
Mon - Fri 8 am to 5 pm
Phone
801.535.7240
801.535.7245 FAX
Brownfields Resource Center:
Incentives and assistance for current or prospective property owners
Environmental Cleanup Tax Deduction
Common Questions and Answers
Map of Eligible Salt Lake City Census tracts
Redevelopment Agency Loan and Grant Programs
Depot Project Area (north Gateway)
Granary Project Area (south Gateway)Department of Community and Economic Development
General City Incentives or call 535-6230
Salt Lake County assistance
Environmental Insurance
Insurance policies can provide various types of protection. Environmental insurance products provide coverage for both clean-up and tort liability. The rapid changes in the field of environmental insurance mean that more and more products are on the market to help people who want to develop properties which may have environmental contamination. In addition, current or old insurance policies covering the site should be examined; sometimes, coverage is broad enough to cover at least a part of costs.
Environmental insurance is a relatively new phenomenon which shows a great deal of promise for providing protection to a wide variety of parties. For instance, insurance may provide protection against:
- Higher clean-up costs due to the discovery of additional contamination;
- Tort liability concerns, affecting both individuals and adjacent property;
- Cost overruns caused when clean-up takes longer than expected (e.g. debt service on outstanding loans, increased administrative costs, etc.);
- Protection of the lender from financial liability (while the Asset Conservation Act makes this unnecessary, a few lenders continue to look for this extra protection); and
- Cost overruns due to changes in the regulatory requirements for clean-up.
An estimate of insurance costs is about $5,000 to $10,000 per $1,000,000 of coverage; this is, of course, only approximate. Currently, the typical insurance policy has a fairly strict time limit -- five to ten years -- but the field of environmental insurance is changing rapidly. Other products are being developed, and are being tailored to the needs of specific companies or projects. For instance, there may be interest in insurance for a group policy covering a number of property owners who are undertaking clean-up at the same time.
Because of the rigorous underwriting standards, a fair amount of information is required before any insurance policy may be issued. At a bare minimum, a Phase I review of property will be necessary. Assuming there are possible pollution issues, more testing will be required before the insurance may be issued. This will, of course, increase the transaction costs associated with starting a project. However, where there is environmental contamination or the fear of contamination, increased information detailing the degree of pollution is extremely helpful in evaluating a project's feasibility and in gaining financing. Learn more about Environmental Insurance Research