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ASTM E 1903 Document Information:
Title
Standard Guide for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase II Environmental Site Assessment Process
ASTM International
Publication Date:
Dec 10, 1997
Scope:
This guide covers a framework for employing good commercial and
customary practices in conducting a
Phase II environmental site assessment (ESA) of a parcel of commercial
property with respect to the
potential presence of a range of contaminants which are within the
scope of CERCLA as well as
petroleum products.
This guide is intended to provide practical procedural guidance for
the continuation of an
assessment conducted in accordance with the most recent edition of
Practice E 1527 or E 1528, or
both. Practice E 1527 is the practice for conducting Phase I ESAs for
a parcel of commercial
property and Practice E 1528 is the transaction screen practice. Both
practices define a process
that is intended to constitute "all appropriate inquiry into the
previous ownership and uses of a
property" to determine whether hazardous substances or petroleum
products have been disposed or
released there in order to satisfy one element of the innocent
purchaser defense to CERCLA
liability.
Because this guide for conducting Phase II ESAs describes a process
for further evaluating a parcel
of commercial property with recognized environmental conditions, as
defined in Practices E 1527 and
E 1528, users of this guide should understand the requirements and
limitations of those practices.
It is strongly recommended that the user refer to and apply the guide
in concert with Practices E
1527 and E 1528.
This guide has multiple purposes. It is intended to provide assistance
to users in satisfying the
appropriate inquiry element of CERCLA's innocent purchaser defense, as
defined in 42 U.S.C. ยง
9601(35)(B), where a previous assessment satisfying that element
identified recognized
environmental conditions. This guide also is intended to assist a user
in gathering reliable
information about a property's environmental conditions to guide the
user's business decisions.
However, this guide does not purport to include the level of
specificity required of technical
standards that govern full characterization of a site's environmental
conditions.
Objectives - The primary objectives of conducting a Phase II ESA are
to evaluate the recognized
environmental conditions identified in the Phase I ESA or transaction
screen process for the
purpose of providing sufficient information regarding the nature and
extent of contamination to
assist in making informed business decisions about the property; and
where applicable, providing
the level of knowledge necessary to satisfy the innocent purchaser
defense under CERCLA.
To achieve these objectives, it may be appropriate to perform more
than a single iteration of
assessment. The guide fosters an iterative approach to Phase II
assessments and allows the user to
terminate the Phase II ESA at the point where sufficient data have
been generated to meet the
user's objectives.
At the completion of a Phase II ESA, the environmental professional
should be able to conclude, at
a minimum, that either (a) the ESA has provided sufficient information
to render a professional
opinion that there is no reasonable basis to suspect the presence of
hazardous substances or
petroleum products at the property associated with the recognized
environmental conditions under
assessment, or (b) the ESA has confirmed the presence of hazardous
substances or petroleum products
at the property under conditions that indicate disposal or release. If
the information developed in
the ESA is insufficient for the environmental professional to reach
either of these conclusions,
the environmental professional may recommend additional iterations of
assessment if warranted to
meet the objectives of the user. If the environmental professional
reasonably suspects that
unconfirmed hazardous substance or petroleum releases remain but
concludes that further reasonable
assessment is not expected to provide additional information of
significant value, he may recommend
that further assessment is not warranted. In such circumstances, the
recommendation for no further
assessment should be accompanied by an explanation why a reasonable
suspicion of releases remains
and why further reasonable assessment is not warranted. Depending upon
the work scope, the
environmental professional may also be able to provide guidance on the
nature and extent of
contamination in order to assist the user in making business decisions
regarding the property.
This guide is intended to provide guidance for assessing recognized
environmental conditions and
developing technically sound data. It is not intended to satisfy the
level of inquiry that may be
necessary to support remedial solutions for a site. For further
discussion of the use of this
guide, refer to Section 4 on Significance and Use.
Needs of the User - Establishing the innocent purchaser defense may
not be a realistic objective in
some instances. Accordingly, the extent of assessment is based on the
business objectives of the
user as well as the degree of uncertainty acceptable to the user. In
either case, the primary
purpose of a Phase II ESA conducted in accordance with this guide is
to assess and evaluate the
recognized environmental conditions identified in the Phase I ESA or
Transaction Screen Process.
The mere confirmation of contamination or the preliminary indication
of the extent and magnitude of
contamination may be sufficient for the purposes of many users. If a
user desires a more complete
characterization of the environmental condition of the property,
further assessment may be
undertaken. However, this guide should not be construed to require
multiple iterations of
assessments in all cases, either to establish the innocent purchaser
defense or to meet other
objectives. Many Phase II ESAs may in fact be restricted to only a
single round of assessment,
whatever the extent of contamination, if any, that might be revealed.
Limitations - The use of this guide is related to the scope as set
forth in Section 1. For
information purposes, Section 12 of this guide contains a
non-exhaustive list of certain
environmental conditions that are beyond the scope of this guide but
that may warrant consideration
by parties to a commercial property transaction. This guide provides
an approach that may be
employed to assess the environmental conditions listed in Section 12.
Reference also should be made
to 4.1.
Organization of This Guide - This guide has twelve sections and one
appendix. Section 1 is the
Scope section. Section 2 is Referenced Documents. Section 3,
Terminology, contains definitions of
terms and acronyms used in this guide. Section 4 is Significance and
Use of this guide. Section 5
is Contracting Considerations. Sections 6-11 constitute the main body
of the Phase II Environmental
Site Assessment guide and include objectives (see Section 6),
developing the scope of work (see
Section 7), assessment activities (see Section 8), evaluation of data
(see Section 9),
interpretation of results (see Section 10) and recommended report
preparation (see Section 11).
Section 12 provides additional information regarding non-scope
considerations. Appendix X1 provides
a sample table of contents and report format for a written Phase II
Environmental Site Assessment
Report.
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