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Environmental Site Assessment

You may request a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment proposal online with absolutely no obligation.

Our new PSA Location Web Service can help you find PSAs we have already done near your location.

What is a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (PSA) ?

Environmental Site Assessments (Phase I and Phase II) can help you evauluate environmental liabilities associated with real property acquisition and ownership.

CES only conducts Phase I PSAs, so we have no vested interest in recommending unnecessary and costly Phase II subsurface investigations.

Information obtained through environmental site assessments can greatly impact the economics of a property transaction, affecting the owner, buyer, seller and lender.

What are the laws?

Federal, state and local laws make current and prior property owners potentially liable for the entire cost of cleaning up a contaminated site. With new laws in effect in many locales, financial institutions, facilities managers and real estate managers are instituting procedures and guidelines to assess the status of a property with regard to environmental laws before a property ownership transaction.

With municipalities requiring an environmental assessment before the issuance of a construction permit, the site assessment process can save considerable money and prevent costly delays associated with agency-mandated cleanup operations.

The prevailing standard for pre-acquisition environmental due diligence (also known as all appropriate inquiry, or “AAI”), has traditionally been ASTM’s Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process. The ASTM Standard Practice was issued originally in 1997 and updated in 2000 and 2005.

A major law (Brownfields Amendments) signed by President Bush in 2002 directed EPA to issue regulations establishing standards and practices for AAI.

The EPA published its Final Rule on for AAI on November 1, 2005 that took effect November 1, 2006. Parties seeking liability protection as bona fide prospective purchasers, innocent landowners, or contiguous property owners may conduct “all appropriate inquiry” by complying with the AAI Rule either directly or by meeting the 2005 ASTM Phase I Standard.

What's Included?

The CES Phase I Environmental Site Assessment intends to satisfy the due diligence requirements of a property transaction using ASTM standards and client-specific guidelines by identifying possible environmental impairments on a particular property.

Typical Phase I services include:

  • An onsite visual inspection of the property and surrounding properties to assess general land use and occupants of the area;

  • A review of data regarding the local geology and hydrology;

  • An assessment of current land use and practices of the property with particular attention given to assessing if any hazardous material or waste management activities have occurred at the site;

  • As assessment of the historic land use and development of the property through an interpretation of fire insurance maps, city directories, and/or aerial photographs of the site and interviews with persons knowledgeable of the site history;

  • A review of owner/operator provided documents and records;

  • A review of local, state, tribal, and federal regulatory agency records maintained for the site.

  • A written report of all findings including Recognized Environmental Concerns, recommendations and conclusions.

Phase II Site Assessments

Phase II Site Assessments are recommended by Phase I Site Assessments, if necessary. They provide a more comprehensive and detailed review of a site and a facility to further evaluate suspected environmental impairments and the extent of surface and subsurface contamination.

The Phase II assesment activities range from cleaning out a below ground sump to a full sub-surface soil and groundwater investigation.

A Phase II assessment qualitatively confirms environmental impairments and liabilities resulting therefrom, and yields basic projections of remediation costs. This information may be used in negotiating the terms and conditions in a particular property transaction.