With the pending election a real detriment to positive aggressive real estate investment right now, and even more concern about spending money for due diligence, it’s still essential to do a Phase I environmental site assessment (ESA) prior to any real estate transaction. The biggest question our clients have is what to do when they did a Phase I ESA when they bought the site, but market conditions have cause a significant lag in proceeding to development. The ASTM Standard E 1528-05 for Environmental Site Assessments provides for a means to update the work done if the Phase I ESA was produced within one year (Phase I’s have “shelf life” of 180 days), by re-engaging a consultant to re-interview key parties for new information, re-inspect the site and adjoining/adjacent properties for environmental conditions, run regulatory data searches again, do a search for environmental liens (ordered by the client/user or arranged by consultant), and provide a new declaration as to the environmental status of the subject site. This may allow the previous Phase I Environmental Assessment Report to be used as an attachment to an “update” letter to “save money.” Typically, the Phase I ESA is older than one year (the downturn has been long-lived!) and the process is not clear cut. In these situations Land Assessment Services, Inc. will assess what static data remains viable and will follow roughly the process outlined above, but will take less for granted. We will also price the project accordingly. Normally a full new Phase I ESA report is produced. If we are presented someone else’s report, we will generally use publicly available data that is undeniably authentic in our work, but chances are we will start from scratch. Pricing will be a function of market conditions, size and nature of the site, the quality of the Phase I ESA report, and the perceived professionalism of the Phase I firm. Regardless, it’s imperative to do the “due diligence” when it comes to environmental risk.