Beyond one year, and the Phase I is no longer presumed to be valid. Between 180 days and one year, the Phase I needs to be updated fairly comprehensively. The ASTM standard states that a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment which was completed less than 180 days prior to the date of acquisition of the subject property is presumed to be valid. The ASTM standards are a little complex to sift through, but when it comes to how long a Phase I is good for, it's pretty cut & dry. In other words, to protect yourself, your Phase I has to follow current ASTM standards.ĪSTM Standards state how long a Phase I ESA is good for. The Federal government didn't want to write regulations dictating how a Phase I must be done, so they let ASTM handle that task, and said if ASTM standards are followed, then it's a valid Phase I and qualifies for certain liability protections. As you can imagine, that can be extremely expensive. In order to do this, you need to do your environmental due diligence, which in this case is a Phase I ESA.įail to do it, and you can very well be held responsible for past contamination of the site, regardless of whether or not you're responsible for it. The reason you're getting a Phase I is to limit or avoid your liability for contamination from past or prior use of the site under the applicable Federal regulation called CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Responsibility and Cleanup Liability Act). The point is, old reports are just that - old and outdated, and not representative of the current situation at all.īut does that really make that much of a difference? I mean, I still have hair and look like that old picture, so what's the big deal? The standards haven't changed that much, have they? A Phase I should still more or less cover the same thing, right? As you can likely guess, that means that Phase I reports completed before 2013 were completed referencing an older standard, meaning that old report won't cut it anymore. ASTM E1527-13 is the current standard, with the 13 meaning 2013.
![astm standards phase i astm standards phase i](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/astme2500standardforcandq-160428123021/95/astm-standard-e-2500-for-commissioning-and-qualifications-1-638.jpg)
Conversely, suppose the old Phase I was completed to current standards. Compared to the relatively slow rate that my hairline receded, environmental conditions can change at your site quickly.įor example, suppose one month after that old Phase I was completed the current buyer started operating on the site and a big spill of petroleum or some other chemical occurred. It's no different with a Phase I ESA, because things can change. No, you need a current, updated picture, because things change, and the picture doesn't represent the current situation anymore. It's still good, right? Do you think that would fly with the DMV or the TSA? Remember back in the day when long, feathery hair was "cool", and now only appears tragically out of date? Suppose I tried to pull my old picture off as being representative of me. I'm really tempted to include my high school graduation picture right now. One year after the initial report date, the Phase I is no longer valid. After 6 months, the Phase I needs to be comprehensivly updated. Here's the short answer, and I'll explain more below.Ī Phase I is good for 6 months. How long is a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment good for?
![astm standards phase i astm standards phase i](https://www.erisinfo.com/assets/ERIS_Webinar_RevASTMStandardIcon_250x160px.png)
What many people don't realize is that a Phase I has a sort of "expiration" date, and after a certain point it's no longer valid or usable. So we don't need another one, right?" Invariably, when we ask the date of the prior Phase I (the date is not the only reason you don't want to use someone else's report), the answer is usually either "I don't know", or "lemme see.it's from a few years back". We often times hear things like "We're going to be buying a property from Company XYZ, and their attorney provided us with a Phase I. This is an issue I see a lot with folks, especially if they've looked into a site multiple times, or are being given a report from someone who looked into the site earlier. I won't go into detail about why you should avoid a cheap Phase I Environmental Site Assessment since I've already covered it in length in another article, but I do want to discuss how long a report is good for. One of the most common questions our customers ask us is how long is a Phase I ESA good for? In fact, many folks look to either hire the cheapest consultant they can find, or even worse, attempt to use an old Phase I report. The strange thing is, when folks are looking to invest hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars into a property, or the business that occupies it, many don't consider a Phase I ESA a worthy investment. We discuss how long a Phase I ESA is "good" for, and when it "expires".įor many folks out there looking into buying or refinancing a piece of property, a Phase I ESA isn't just a good idea, it's a vital piece of information necessary in determining you (or your bank) are making a sound financial decision.