Cabot Circus mall in Bristol, England, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user Ajuk, CC BY-SA 3.0.
These are some of the stories we’ve been following this week.
- Bi-partisan bills have been introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate to renew and reform the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program currently set to expire in September.
- Commercial trophy property owners in Europe are looking to Chinese buyers, thanks to a recent spending spree by Asian investors.
- An oil and gas company was fined $8.9 million for an improperly cased fracking well that’s been contaminating local groundwater and private wells since at least 2013.
- The International Valuation Standards Council and The Appraisal Foundation are collaborating on a “bridge document” to help appraisers comply with both the International Valuation Standards and the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP).
- Florida governor Rick Scott signed House Bill 87, a law that specifies mandatory procedures for construction defect claims before such cases reach the courts. If the parties are unable to resolve the claim to their mutual satisfaction after meeting the intensive requirements for information exchange, then litigation can proceed. [Link may require registration.]
- Residents near an Oklahoma City landfill have complained about dust and odors. After their concerns were not addressed, they filed a nuisance lawsuit, which they hope will be certified as a class action next month.
- Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is moving away from mining investments, part of a growing trend of sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors looking to get away from the underperforming industry.
- In 2013, an oil train explosion in the Quebec village of Lac-Mégantic killed 47 people and destroyed the town’s commercial core. The Canadian government has now charged the company responsible, Montreal Maine & Atlantic Canada Railway Ltd, as well as the company’s CEO and other employees, with violating the Railway Safety Act. The company went bankrupt shortly after the accident, but the individuals may face fines or jail time.
- Western Canadian oil producers could lose $100 billion if no new oil pipelines are built. A research firm warned that increasing oilsands production is being hampered by the limited pipelines.
- A toxic tort case in Louisiana suffered a setback when a state appellate court ruled that the case was a one-time release, not a continuing tort, and there was therefore no mechanism for avoiding Louisiana’s statute of limitations. The case stemmed from a 1983 spill that poured 11,000 gallons of the chemical perchloroethylene (PCE) near a Lake Charles neighborhood.
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