Environmental risk management is becoming more important and common in the real estate transactions/property transfer process.  RJLG follows the ASTM phased-approach to environmental site assessments and follows ASTM 1527.  

Selecting RJLG as your sole Environmental Site Assessments (ESA) provider provides our clients with the total package. We can manage the site’s ESA from cradle to grave, from site assessment to remediation.  Our environmental professionals are highly skilled and their credentials meet the terms of the applicable standards.

RJLG performs Phase I ESAs on sites ranging from vacated small parcels of land to large real estate ventures for a diverse clientele.  ESAs are primarily associated with due diligence involving real estate transactions.

In 1980, Congress signed into law the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation & Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as the Superfund act, which regards contaminants within the scope of CERCLA and petroleum product on commercial property.  The focus is placed on “liability”. The primary purposes of Superfund are to determine if the land has recognized environmental conditions and to assign financial blame to the responsible party.

A major defense to becoming financially responsible for an environmental cleanup is known as the ‘innocent landowner’ defense. The essence of the innocent landowner defense is that the prospective buyer makes an “all appropriate inquiry” into the subject property. By definition this means that the party invoking the innocent landowner defense “must take, at the time of acquisition, all appropriate inquiry into the previous ownership and uses of the property with good commercial or customary practice.”

“All appropriate inquiry” begins with what is known as a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment. An ESA, at a minimum, must meet the requirements of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard E1527 "Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments."  According to the ASTM, an ESA consists of a visual and physical site investigation.

A Phase I ESA includes all of the following:

• Search of Federal, State, and Local Lists – a fifty-year title search, aerial photographs, and fire insurance maps are involved. Regulatory databases and surrounding properties are also included in the inquiry to determine whether contamination may have migrated onto the subject property from a neighboring property.
• Thorough Site Investigation – this entails a visual and physical inspection of the exteriors and interiors of all structures on the property and recording of the site setting, evidence of hazardous substances in and around the property, current and past uses of the property and adjoining properties, and any avenues for the migration of hazardous substances. Main indicators of environmental contamination include odors, standing pools, containers, corrosion, stained soils, stressed vegetation, waste piles, heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, equipment containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos, possible lead-based paint, and bulging or subsiding areas on the property.
• Data from Interviews – This involves obtaining ‘specialized knowledge’ about the property from parties such as present and former owners and managers and local government officials.
• Conclusive Report – this report must clearly state if there are recognized environmental conditions.