Phase I environmental site assessment
In severe cases, brownfield sites may be added to the National Priorities List where they will be subject to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program.
In the United States of America demand increased dramatically for this type of study in the 1980s following judicial decisions related to liability of property owners to effect site cleanup.
Interpreting the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), the U.S. courts have held that a buyer, lessor, or lender may be held responsible for remediation of hazardous substance residues, even if a prior owner caused the contamination; performance of a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, according to the courts' reasoning, creates a safe harbor, known as the 'Innocent Landowner Defense'.
The original standard under CERCLA for establishing an innocent landowner defense was based upon the requirement to perform a "all appropriate inquiry" prior to ownership transfer.
May 23, 1990), United States v. Fleet Factors Corp. found that a secured creditor can be liable for property contamination under the strict, joint and several liability scheme outlined in CERCLA.
In 1998 the necessity of performing a Phase I ESA was underscored by congressional action in passing the Superfund Cleanup Acceleration Act of 1998.
The tasks listed here are common to almost all Phase I ESAs:[7] In most cases, the public file searches, historical research and chain-of-title examinations are outsourced to information services that specialize in such activities.
Often a multi-disciplinary approach is taken in compiling all the components of a Phase I study, since skills in chemistry, atmospheric physics, geology, microbiology and even botany are frequently required.
[citation needed] While there are myriad sites that have been analyzed to date within the United States, the following list will serve as examples of the subject matter: In Japan, with the passage of the 2003 Soil Contamination Countermeasures Law, there is a strong movement to conduct Phase I studies more routinely.
Some parts of Europe began to conduct Phase I studies on selected properties in the 1990s, but still lack the comprehensive attention given to virtually all major real estate transactions in the USA.
The Environment Agency of England and Wales have produced a set of guidance; CLEA a standardized approach to the assessment of land contamination.
The scopes of work are based on the ASTM E1527-05 Standard but have specific requirements including the following: the percent and scope of the property inspection; requirements for radon testing; asbestos and lead-based paint testing and operations-and-maintenance (O&M) plans to manage the hazards in place; lead in drinking water; and mold inspection.
