2013 CPEO Brownfields List Archive

From: Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2013 07:25:52 -0700 (PDT)
Reply: cpeo-brownfields
Subject: [CPEO-BIF] Revisions to “All Appropriate Inquiries” Rule
 
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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