Environmental Due Diligence Services

Local, state, and federal laws have been established to protect people and the environment from environmental contamination. The release of hazardous substances and/or petroleum products as well as other environmental contaminants can pollute the air, soil, and groundwater and affect human health. They can also create liability for property owners or those who purchase contaminated property. Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA, persons may be held strictly liable for cleaning up contamination at properties that they either currently own or operate, or owned or operated in the past. Strict liability under CERCLA means that liability for environmental contamination may be assigned based solely on property ownership.

With passage of the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act (the “Brownfields Amendments”) to CERCLA in 2002, All Appropriate Inquiries, or AAI, has been established as the process of evaluating a property’s environmental conditions. The AAI Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on November 1, 2005 (40 CFR Part 312) and went into effect on November 1, 2006.

The AAI Final Rule provides that ASTM International Standard E1527-21 (“Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process”) and E2247-16 (“Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process for Forestland or Rural Property”) can be used to satisfy the statutory requirements for conducting AAI.

The intent of AAI is to assess if current or historical property uses have impacted the soil or groundwater beneath the property that could pose a threat to the environment and/or human health. If these issues are identified, it presents a potential liability for the owner and/or lender and can negatively affect the value of the property. In addition to commercial and government entities purchasing property, anyone purchasing a property for non-residential use that is interested in seeking protection from CERCLA liability is subject to AAI requirements.

Although it does not meet the requirements for AAI and will not offer protection from potential CERCLA liability, a Transaction Screen Assessment (TSA) conducted according to ASTM International Standard 1528-22 (“Standard Practice for Limited Environmental Due Diligence: Transaction Screen Process”) is another due diligence option.

Evans Environmental Consulting specializes in due diligence services to identify potential environmental liability concerns as well as environmental issues may pose risks to our clients, their investments, or site workers. Our Phase I ESAs and TSAs are conducted by an experienced Environmental Professional according to the respective ASTM standards. Call us today to discuss your specific project needs.