[CPEO-BIF] Revisions to “All Appropriate Inquiries” Rule

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Brownfields: Revisions to EPA “All Appropriate Inquiries” Rule Could  
Protect More Buyers of Contaminated Property from Liability

By Dustin Till
Marten Law Newsletter
October 6, 2013

An improving economy is bringing more developers and investors back  
into the brownfields market. As shovels turn dirt at what were once  
service stations, factories, and dry cleaners, developers and  
investors are again asking their environmental counsel how they can  
minimize or avoid liability for historic contamination on developable  
land. Into the mix comes EPA, which recently announced plans to  
revise its so-called All Appropriate Inquiry standard that lenders  
and developers, and their environmental counsel, use to assess  
whether a new property owner is exempt from liability under CERCLA,  
the federal Superfund law.

In a Federal Register Notice published on August 15, 2013, EPA  
proposed to adopt a new ASTM International standard (ASTM E1527-13),  
which would revise the criteria used to satisfy the All Appropriate  
Inquiries requirement via a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment  
(ESA). The new standard changes certain definitions in order to  
better differentiate between traditional brownfield sites (e.g.,  
sites with unremediated contamination), and former brownfields that  
have either been cleaned up to unrestricted levels, or that have  
obtained regulatory closure subject to engineering controls or land  
use restrictions. The proposed standard also emphasizes the  
assessment of the potential for vapor migration, so as to be more  
definite as to where it presents an environmental risk.


...

For the entire article, see
http://www.martenlaw.com/newsletter/20131007-all-appropriate-inquires- 
rule

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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