Land Assessment Services is ready to implement ASTM E 1527-13, as November 2nd marks its release date, we are told. This new version updates ASTM E 1527-05 and changes some key definitions, adds an emphasis on vapor intrusion assessment, and requires more in-person review of regulatory files during the completion of a Phase I environmental site assessment (ESA). This updated standard had to endure a rigorous review by the EPA for compliance with its All Appropriate Inquiry (AAI) rule. LAS is brainstorming now on how to add the new tasks into our workflow with significant impact to our pricing. We think our work product has always exceeded the ASTM standard anyway, as we adhere to the “I want to be able to sleep at night” approach to providing our professional services.

Land Assessment Services does not make a habit of throwing out half-baked conclusions and cover-your-self RECs in its environmental site assessments. It’s easy to meet the letter of the law and produce a Phase I ESA barely meeting the ASTM 1527-05 standard using material mostly purchased from an environmental data company. Where the professionals at LAS set themselves apart is in understanding what is going on with the transaction. A poorly written hollow Phase I ESA can hold up or blow a multi-million dollar transaction out of the water. It’s very important to know the nature of the deal.

Here’s another danger we’ve seen. A property buyer working through a bank that orders the Phase I ESA. You may be constrained to follow their rules, but remember, you need to care more about due diligence than they do. That’s what the All Appropriate Inquiry (AAI) rule is there for. Get a copy of the report. Make sure you’re satisfied!

My sources tell me that we’re looking to September of this year for the EPA’s sign-off on ASTM E1527-13 as meeting the requirements of its All Appropriate Inquiry (AAI) Rule. Phase I Environmental Site Assessments from Land Assessment Services, Inc. will begin to feature elements of the new standard anyway as we gear up. Nevertheless, as noted, our ESA reports have always exceeded the minimum standards.

LAS is ready to implement ASTM E 1527-13 when it is approved, and in fact we are already incorporating a section devoted to vapor intrusion screening in our ESA reports if the subject property is in an area where there could be some risk. Really, LAS has always done many of the other enhancements in an attempt to be as thorough as possible. One of the things we try to do is provide meaningful well-supported conclusions in our Phase I environmental site assessments. We do not make it a practice to paint our clients into a corner with recommendations, but to provide what reasoning we feel is necessary so that the client can fully understand the issues.

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.

When I broke into the profession in 1991, a typical Phase I environmental site assessment was called any number of names: Phase I audit, Phase I Site Investigation, Environmental Site Review, Environmental Site Evaluation, etc. Back then, there was no messing around. Your original scope of assessment work included six monitoring wells and soil samples to check off-site concerns a thousand feet away. These Phase I ESAs were called “expanded” or “enhanced” or environmental site assessments with “limited environmental testing.” Those were hysterical days. But now, the tolerances have been reduced to razor thin. No one really wants to add testing to the environmental site assessment, even when our findings indicate potential issues. I see two types of environmental assessment companies out there. The first calls everything a recognized environmental condition and tosses around the ASTM standard like its going out of style. There is little opining to support conclusions. The thinking is, if we call it a REC, we won’t get sued. LAS does not operate like that. We carefully discuss what we see as “environmental conditions” in our assessments, and then offer careful, thoughtful, understandable reasons for why these conditions are or are not “recognized” environmental conditions. Since the Phase I environmental site assessment is so broad and sweeping, our conclusions need to synthesize a multitude of factors. There should be no nuances. If it is a REC, there should be no equivocation. If it isn’t, the same. To be a professional in the environmental assessment business these days, requires a depth of experience and an awareness of what is at stake in the deal, and the complications that result from “cover yourself” conclusions. Ask for a redacted conclusion page from your environmental consultant to see what the end of the story will look like before you sign up.

It’s also important to pick your environmental professional carefully. The old saying, “you get what you paid for” is very true here. If you are quoted a bargain-basement price coupled with a blazing-fast turnaround time, how much depth will there be to the Phase I ESA? Further, the consultant cutting such a sweetheart deal for an environmental site assessment can very well be cutting critical corners. It is very important to scrutinize all the relevant data that comes in, and to have reliable professional companies providing that data, with high values themselves. Recently, one data company completely missed an abutting clean-up site that had significantly impacted the property. The company identified no “recognized environmental conditions” and the user went ahead with the transaction. Land Assessment Services, Inc. found this information and saved its client and prospective buyer from buying land that would be tied up in contamination assessment, as well as litigation for years. Environmental site assessments performed by true environmental professionals are essential every time you consider buying any kind of real property.