As we predicted, EPA received numerous negative comments to its Direct Final Rule that would have recognized that the new ASTM E1527-21 phase 1 standard may be used to comply with the All Appropriate Inquires (AAI) rule for asserting certain landowner liability defenses and qualify for brownfield grants. All of the comments criticized EPA’s plan to […]
The ASTM E1527-21 is now official! It was approved on November 1st after three years of development. I served as the co-chair of the legal sub-committee. Among the changes: Key terminology revisions: The terms “Recognized Environmental Condition” (REC); “Controlled Recognized Environmental Condition” (CREC); and “Historical Recognized Environmental Condition (HREC) have been strengthened to reduce misclassifications of
New Phase 1 Standard is Approved by ASTM Governing Body! Read More »
The Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has long struggled with interpreting the scope of CERCLA liability, often issuing poorly-reasoned and inconsistent decisions. This trend continued with its recent opinion in Von Duprin vs Moran Electric Service, Inc., et al, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 26726 (7th Cir. 9/3/2021) where the court issued a number
Christmas arrived early for two environmental consulting firms when a federal district court ruled in Bank United, N.A. v. Merritt Environmental Consulting Corp, 2018 U.S. Dist. Lexis 214448 (S.D.N.Y. 12/20/2018) that a lender had waited too long to file a complaint against the consultants for failing to identify radioactive contamination in a phase 1 environmental
Consultants in Bank Lawsuit Saved by the (Statute of Limitations) Bell Read More »
The short answer is no. Environmental consultants routinely submit environmental questionnaires to property owners and their clients as part of the phase 1 process. Some consultants tell their clients that they are obligated to complete the questionnaire to be able to comply with EPA’s All Appropriate Inquires (“AAI”) rule. A few go as far as
Do Clients Have To Complete Consultant Questionnaires To Comply With AAI? Read More »
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) loans have been playing an increasingly important role in commercial real estate financing and account for around 30% of commercial loan originations. Because of the increasing use of CMBS loans, it is important for consultants to understand the different risk tolerances of the players in a CMBS transaction and how environmental
CMBS Environmental Due Diligence Needs to Consider B-Piece Buyers Read More »
We have previously discussed discussed here and in other forums how the All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI) Rule issued by EPA in 2005 is deeply flawed and has directly contributed to a worsening in the quality of phase 1 reports. This is ironic outcome since the reason EPA was instructed in the 2002 amendments to CERCLA to issue
Major CMBS Lender Requiring EPs to Perform Site Inspections Read More »
On December 30th, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule in the Federal Register (78 FR 79319) recognizing the new ASTM E1527-13 phase 1 standard practice as an approved method for complying with the All Appropriate Inquires (AAI) rule. As explained below, while the preamble to the final rule is an improvement to
On November 6th, ASTM announced that it has published its E1527-13 Phase 1 Standard for Environmental Site Assessments. Upon publication of a new ASTM standard, the prior version becomes obsolete. In a normal transition, environmental consultants would transition to using the new E1527 version like they did with the E1527-94, E1527-97 and E1527-00. However, this is not
Should Consultants Use ASTM E1527-13 Prior to EPA Recognition? Read More »
We have previously discussed why borrowers and purchasers should independently evaluate environmental conditions at their properties and simply rely on phase 1 reports prepared by their lenders or sellers. Click Here. Borrowers typically believe that a site is “clean” if a bank determines that a Phase 1 is acceptable. However, what many purchasers or do
Buyer Relies on Seller/Lender Phase 1 To Detriment Read More »