 |
| Purchase Information |
| Use this form to request purchase information on ORG online subscriptions. |
|
|
Document ASTM E 1527 is offered by IHS as part of an online subscription. This subscription contains many documents on the same topic.
You may also purchase this document alone from the IHS Standards Store.
ASTM E 1527 Document Information:
Title
Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process
ASTM International
Publication Date:
Nov 1, 2005
Scope:
Purpose
The purpose of this practice is to define good commercial and
customary practice in the United
States of America for conducting an environmental site
assessment(Footnote 2) of a parcel of
commercial real estate with respect to the range of contaminants
within the scope of Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) (42
U.S.C. §9601) and
petroleum products. As such, this practice is intended to permit a
user to satisfy one of the
requirements to qualify for the innocent landowner, contiguous
property owner, or bona fide
prospective purchaser limitations on CERCLA liability (hereinafter,
the "landowner liability
protections," or "LLPs"): that is, the practice that constitutes "all
appropriate inquiry into the
previous ownership and uses of the property consistent with good
commercial or customary practice"
as defined at 42 U.S.C. §9601(35)(B). (See Appendix X1 for an
outline of CERCLA's liability
and defense provisions.) Controlled substances are not included within
the scope of this standard.
Persons conducting an environmental site assessment as part of an EPA
Brownfields Assessment and
Characterization Grant awarded under CERCLA 42 U.S.C.
§9604(k)(2)(B) must include controlled
substances as defined in the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C.
§802) within the scope of
the assessment investigations to the extent directed in the terms and
conditions of the specific
grant or cooperative agreement. Additionally, an evaluation of
business environmental risk
associated with a parcel of commercial real estate may necessitate
investigation beyond that
identified in this practice (see Sections 1.3 and 13).
Recognized Environmental Conditions
In defining a standard of good commercial and customary practice for
conducting an environmental
site assessment of a parcel of property, the goal of the processes
established by this practice is
to identify recognized environmental conditions. The term recognized
environmental conditions means
the presence or likely presence of any hazardous substances or
petroleum products on a property
under conditions that indicate an existing release, a past release, or
a material threat of a
release of any hazardous substances or petroleum products into
structures on the property or into
the ground, ground water, or surface water of the property. The term
includes hazardous substances
or petroleum products even under conditions in compliance with laws.
The term is not intended to
include de minimis conditions that generally do not present a threat
to human health or the
environment and that generally would not be the subject of an
enforcement action if brought to the
attention of appropriate governmental agencies. Conditions determined
to be de minimis are not
recognized environmental conditions.
Petroleum Products
Petroleum products are included within the scope of this practice
because they are of concern with
respect to many parcels of commercial real estate and current custom
and usage is to include an
inquiry into the presence of petroleum products when doing an
environmental site assessment of
commercial real estate. Inclusion of petroleum products within the
scope of this practice is not
based upon the applicability, if any, of CERCLA to petroleum products.
(See X1.7 for discussion of
petroleum exclusion to CERCLA liability.)
CERCLA Requirements Other Than Appropriate Inquiry
This practice does not address whether requirements in addition to all
appropriate inquiry have
been met in order to qualify for the LLPs (for example, the duties
specified in 42 U.S.C.
§9607(b)(3)(a) and (b) and cited in Appendix X1, including the
continuing obligation not to
impede the integrity and effectiveness of activity and use limitations
(AULs), or the duty to take
reasonable steps to prevent releases, or the duty to comply with
legally required release reporting
obligations).
Other Federal, State, and Local Environmental Laws
This practice does not address requirements of any state or local laws
or of any federal laws other
than the all appropriate inquiry provisions of the LLPs. Users are
cautioned that federal, state,
and local laws may impose environmental assessment obligations that
are beyond the scope of this
practice. Users should also be aware that there are likely to be other
legal obligations with
regard to hazardous substances or petroleum products discovered on the
property that are not
addressed in this practice and that may pose risks of civil and/or
criminal sanctions for
non-compliance.
Documentation
The scope of this practice includes research and reporting
requirements that support the user's
ability to qualify for the LLPs. As such, sufficient documentation of
all sources, records, and
resources utilized in conducting the inquiry required by this practice
must be provided in the
written report (refer to 8.1.8 and 12.2).
Objectives
Objectives guiding the development of this practice are (1) to
synthesize and put in writing good
commercial and customary practice for environmental site assessments
for commercial real estate,
(2) to facilitate high quality, standardized environmental site
assessments, (3) to ensure that the
standard of all appropriate inquiry is practical and reasonable, and
(4) to clarify an industry
standard for all appropriate inquiry in an effort to guide legal
interpretation of the LLPs.
Considerations Beyond Scope
The use of this practice is strictly limited to the scope set forth in
this section. Section 13 of
this practice identifies, for informational purposes, certain
environmental conditions (not an
all-inclusive list) that may exist on a property that are beyond the
scope of this practice but may
warrant consideration by parties to a commercial real estate
transaction. The need to include an
investigation of any such conditions in the environmental
professional's scope of services should
be evaluated based upon, among other factors, the nature of the
property and the reasons for
performing the assessment (for example, a more comprehensive
evaluation of business environmental
risk) and should be agreed upon between the user and environmental
professional as additional
services beyond the scope of this practice prior to initiation of the
environmental site assessment
process.
Organization of This Practice
This practice has thirteen sections and four appendixes. Section 1 is
the Scope. Section 2 is
Referenced Documents. Section 3, Terminology, has definitions of terms
not unique to this practice,
descriptions of terms unique to this practice, and acronyms. Section 4
is Significance and Use of
this practice. Section 5 provides discussion regarding activity and
use limitations. Section 6
describes User's Responsibilities. Sections 7-12 are the main body of
the Phase I Environmental
Site Assessment, including evaluation and report preparation. Section
13 provides additional
information regarding non-scope considerations (see 1.3). The
appendixes are included for
information and are not part of the procedures prescribed in this
practice. Appendix X1 explains
the liability and defense provisions of CERCLA that will assist the
user in understanding the
user's responsibilities under CERCLA; it also contains other important
information regarding
CERCLA, the Brownfields Amendments, and this practice. Appendix X2
provides the definition of the
environmental professional responsible for the Phase I Environmental
Site Assessment, as required
in the "All Appropriate Inquiry" Final Rule (40 C.F.R. Part 312).
Appendix X3 provides an optional
User Questionnaire to assist the user and the environmental
professional in gathering information
from the user that may be material to identifying recognized
environmental conditions. Appendix X4
provides a recommended table of contents and report format for a Phase
I Environmental Site
Assessment.
This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns,
if any, associated with its
use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to
establish appropriate safety and
health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory
limitations prior to use.
This practice offers a set of instructions for performing one or more
specific operations. This
document cannot replace education or experience and should be used in
conjunction with professional
judgment. Not all aspects of this practice may be applicable in all
circumstances. This ASTM
standard is not intended to represent or replace the standard of care
by which the adequacy of a
given professional service must be judged, nor should this document be
applied without
consideration of a project's many unique aspects. The word "Standard"
in the title means only that
the document has been approved through the ASTM consensus process.
Footnote 2 - All definitions, descriptions of terms, and acronyms are
defined in Section 3.
Whenever terms defined in 3.2 are used in this practice, they are in
italics.
About IHS
IHS (NYSE: IHS) is a leading global provider of critical technical information, decision-support tools and related services in a number of industries including aerospace and defense, automotive, construction, electronics, and energy. IHS serves customers ranging from large governments and multinational corporations to smaller companies and technical professionals in more than 100 countries. IHS been in business for more than 45 years and employ more than 2,300 people around the world.
