Posted on January 23, 2014 by Kenneth Gray
As 2013 drew to a close, USEPA amended its All Appropriate Inquiries Rule (AAI Rule) and anticipates that purchasers and environmental professionals will “embrace” the recently published ASTM International E1527–13 “Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process,” commonly referred to as the “ASTM Phase I Standard.” Although the Agency had initially indicated the old flame of the ASTM E1527-05 standard was just as attractive, the final AAI Rule makes clear that USEPA considers the 2013 standard to have many new charms and recommends its use. Further, the Agency has indicated that the old standard is absolutely replaceable — and plans a rulemaking to remove the 2005 standard, perhaps as early as this spring.
USEPA warns that the regulated community should not be naughty. The Agency will keep an eye on the new relationship and threatens that if the regulated community doesn’t get sweet on the new standard (if it is not being “widely adopted”), then USEPA may further modify the AAI rule to explicitly require activities under the updated standard.
The Agency believes the ASTM E1527–13 improves upon the E1527–05 standard and reflects evolving best practices and the level of rigor that will afford prospective property owners necessary information when making property transaction decisions and meeting continuing obligations under the CERCLA liability protections. In particular, the new ASTM E1527–13 standard enhances the previous standard with regard to the delineation of historical releases or recognized environmental conditions at a property. It also makes important revisions to the standard practice to clarify that all appropriate inquires and Phase I environmental site assessments must include, within the scope of the investigation, an assessment of the real or potential occurrence of vapor migration and vapor releases on, at, in or to the subject property.
USEPA, perhaps inadvertently, couldn’t let go without complimenting “the ex” – and may have created some litigation issues. The Agency went out of its way to opine that the prior standard already called for identification of vapor release issues and vapor migration issues. There has been some legitimate debate on whether the ASTM E1527-05 standard was clear on that point. Some attorneys anticipate additional malpractice litigation against environmental professionals where vapor issues weren’t adequately addressed in Phase I assessments issued between 2005 and 2014 that claimed to comply with the standard.
Apologies to the Gershwins and Nat King Cole, but I expect the ASTM E1527-13 is entirely embraceable – to the extent that environmental professionals are able to follow detailed consensus standards written by a team of engineers and lawyers. Many environmental lawyers have concluded that even in late 2013, most ASTM Phase I Standard site assessments that purported to meet the ASTM standards failed to measure up.
Tags: ASTM E1527, Phase I, recognized environmental condition
Brownfields | CERCLA | Environmental Protection Agency | Superfund