Phase 1 ESA Disclaimers / Information​
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1.1 FINDINGS
This report presents the results of the ASTM E1527-21 Phase I Environmental Site Assessment conducted by Enviro Pros LLC at Site Address. The findings and conclusions of this investigation are based upon a review of historic site-use activities, contact with and records from governmental regulatory agencies, regulatory database searches, as well as site reconnaissance and interviews with the client, site personnel, and possibly others who may have knowledge of various aspects of the subject site.
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2.1 PURPOSE OF A PHASE 1 ENVIRONMENTAL SITE ASSESSMENT
The purpose of this Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is to assess (1) the likelihood of contamination of the subject site as a result of either past or present land-use practices; and (2) the potential for future environmental contamination which may occur as a result of current conditions or operations and maintenance activities at either the subject site or properties adjoining the subject site, thereby identifying real or potential environmental or economic impact to the subject site. In this way, the client may satisfy a requirement to qualify for the innocent landowner defense to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) liability by completing "all appropriate inquiry into the previous ownership and uses of the property consistent with good commercial and customary practice." Definitions are based on the ASTM E1527-21 standard for Environmental Site Assessments.
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2.1.2 DEFINITIONS
Recognized Environmental Condition (REC): is defined in ASTM Standard E1527-21 as"(1) the presence of hazardous substances or petroleum products in, or at the subject property due to a release to the environment; (2) the likely presence of hazardous substances or petroleum products, in, on, or at the subject property under conditions that pose a material threat of a future release to the environment.
Controlled Recognized Environmental Condition (CREC): is defined in ASTM Standard E1527-21 as a "recognized environmental condition affecting the subject property that has been addressed to the satisfaction of the applicable regulatory authority or authorities with hazardous substances or petroleum products allowed to remain in place subject to implementation of required controls (for example, activity and use limitations or other property use limitations)." Controlled recognized environmental conditions are recognized environmental conditions.
Historical Recognized Environmental Condition (HREC): a past release of any hazardous substances or petroleum products that has occurred in connection with the property and has been addressed to the satisfaction of the applicable regulatory authority or meeting unrestricted use criteria established by a regulatory authority, without subjecting the property to any required controls. An HREC is limited to include only past releases that have been addressed to unrestricted residential use.
Business Environmental Risk (BER): as a risk which can have a material environmental or environmentally driven impact on the business associated with the current or planned use of a parcel of commercial real estate, not necessarily limited to those environmental issues required to be investigated as defined by ASTM.
De Minimis (potential or possible): when it appears to pose no immediate threat to the subject site and/or requires no immediate action given the current knowledge of site conditions. It is a condition that generally does not present a threat to human health or the environment and that generally would not be the subject of an enforcement action if brought to the attention of appropriate governmental agencies. This condition with time, groundwater movement, demolition, or other disturbances, or sometimes with the acquisition of further information, may come to pose a long-term, immediate, or chronic environmental risk; and/or this condition may appear to have a negligible monetary/physical impact on the Subject Property, and therefore, does not require additional investigation at this time. Conditions determined to be de minimis conditions are not recognized environmental conditions nor controlled recognized environmental conditions.
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3.2 SITE RECONNAISSANCE
During the site reconnaissance, Enviro Pros LLC field assessors may make note of basic compliance issues which, may be environmental in nature, however, are not issues directly associated with the potential for site contamination (i.e., the specific objective of our assessment). However, as a service to our clients, and because these compliance issues may contribute to our overall understanding of site operations, Enviro Pros LLC may comment on the site’s basic compliance status. The review of the site’s compliance status is not intended to be complete or comprehensive and may or may not include all items identified during the site reconnaissance. Again, the compliance review is not intended as a comprehensive compliance audit. Rather, the compliance review is only intended to aid Enviro Pros LLC in determining the likelihood that the subject site may have been impacted by releases of hazardous substances.
When the storage or use of hazardous substances are encountered on a site, the Enviro Pros LLC field assessor may look for or inquire about the on-site presence of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs).
Based on ASTM E1527-05 AND E1527-21, federal, state, and other regulatory agency guidelines, the following presumptions were in force if and when Enviro Pros LLC inspected the subject site for specific hazardous substances:
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Structures built after 1980 are considered asbestos-free.
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Structures built after 1979 are considered lead-free (with respect to both water and painted surfaces).
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Fluorescent light ballasts will be considered PCB-free and will not be noted in the report regardless of their date of manufacture, unless Enviro Pros LLC is instructed to do otherwise in writing by the client.
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5.1 HISTORICAL INFORMATION
For this assessment, Enviro Pros LLC may have reviewed reasonably ascertainable historical aerial photographs and United States Geologic Survey (U.S.G.S.) topographic maps of the subject site and vicinity. This review consisted of examining the reasonably ascertainable available photographs and topographic maps for evidence of activities on or development of the subject site and adjoining sites that may show an environmental condition or concern which may currently affect the subject site. The specific aerial photographs and U.S.G.S. topographic maps were reviewed for this assessment are identified and their environmentally relevant features are described in Section 5.3 and 5.6.
Enviro Pros LLC may have also reviewed any reasonably ascertainable Historic Maps of the subject site and vicinity. Such maps have been prepared by fire insurance companies in order to determine the potential risk of fire damage to buildings in metropolitan areas. These maps have been produced since the 1887s and, for some areas, they are still produced today. For the purposes of a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, these maps may contain helpful information on the age and past uses of buildings, as well as information about on the storage of hazardous and flammable substances. However, because it was only worthwhile for fire insurance companies to map metropolitan areas, the scope of coverage of these maps is somewhat limited.
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5.4 SANBORN FIRE INSURANCE MAP REVIEW
Sanborn Fire Insurance maps were developed in the late 1800s and early 1900s for use as an assessment tool for fire insurance rates in urbanized areas. A search was made of the Environmental Risk Information Services (ERIS) collection of Sanborn Fire Insurance maps. Sanborn maps may or may not be available for certain areas.
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5.5 CITY DIRECTORY REVIEW
A search of historical city directories was conducted for the Subject Property by ERIS. The Adjacent Tenants of Concern may list such properties. No listed properties, indicates there is no concern.
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6.0 REGULATORY AGENCY RECORDS
Enviro Pros LLC has contacted various state, county, and municipal agencies having current or past jurisdiction over the subject site, in an attempt to review reasonably ascertainable records that contain specific information about environmental conditions on the subject site that these agencies may have on file, or to establish that no environmentally relevant records are on file for the subject site. The client should be aware that most regulatory agencies file their records by address or corporate name (as opposed to parcel number or site name). If no specific address has been assigned to a site, then, typically, no environmental records related to the site will be forthcoming from the state, county, or municipal regulatory agencies.
Enviro Pros LLC has also reviewed ERIS Report, a computer-generated federal, state, and regional one-mile regulatory database search in an effort to determine whether the subject site is listed on an agency environmental database and to identify possible regulatory-listed sites of concern within a one-mile radius of the subject site. In general, these documents list known or suspected hazardous waste generators, release sites, landfills, unauthorized disposal sites, sites with registered underground storage tanks, and sites currently under investigation for known or suspected environmental violations or releases. In conjunction with the findings on the geological and hydrological conditions, information obtained from the database search can be used to assess the environmental risk faced by the subject site from past or present off-site sources of contamination. Additionally, the Banks Report may provide information about on-site sources of contamination.
Local and state agencies, such as environmental health departments, fire prevention bureaus, and building and planning departments are contacted to identify any current or previous reports of hazardous materials use, storage, and/or unauthorized releases that may have impacted the Subject Property. In addition, information pertaining to Activity and Use Limitations (AULs), defined as legal or physical restrictions, or limitations on the use of, or access to, a site or facility, is requested. E 1527-21 are summarized in the following table. A copy of the regulatory database report is included in Appendices of this report.
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