How much does a Phase I ESA cost?

Neither ASTM E1527-21 nor the All Appropriate Inquiries rule, 40 CFR part 312, sets a price, a fee range or a turnaround time for a Phase I. What they do say bears on the work's time and cost: the level of inquiry varies by property, the inquiry is not exhaustive, records are sought within reasonable time and cost, parts of the work go stale on fixed clocks, the user has tasks of its own, and work beyond the scope is the user's choice (E1527-21, 4.5.1 to 4.5.3, 4.6, 6, 8.1.5, 13; 40 CFR 312.20).

The level of inquiry varies

Not every property calls for the same assessment. The standard ties the right level to the type of property, the user's expertise and risk tolerance, any future use the user discloses, and what the inquiry turns up as it goes (E1527-21, 4.5.3). At the user's option, an assessment may go further than all appropriate inquiries, or, for a user not seeking the landowner liability protections, less far (E1527-21, 3.2.31).

The inquiry is not exhaustive

All appropriate inquiries is not an exhaustive assessment. The standard recognizes a point where the cost or time of more information outweighs its use and can disrupt a transaction, and it aims at a balance between those limits and less uncertainty (E1527-21, 4.5.2). It lowers uncertainty without removing it, within reasonable limits of time and cost (E1527-21, 4.5.1). It includes no sampling or testing (E1527-21, 7.4), and more than one site visit is not expected (E1527-21, 9.2.7).

Reasonable time and cost for records

The rule says those conducting the inquiry must seek to gather the required information that is "publicly available, obtainable from its source within reasonable time and cost constraints, and which can practicably be reviewed" (40 CFR 312.20). The standard requires review only of records reasonably ascertainable from standard sources, not of every record that might exist (E1527-21, 8.1.4). The standard counts a record as obtainable within reasonable time and cost when the source provides it within 20 calendar days after receiving a request, made in writing, by telephone or in person, for no more than a nominal retrieval and copying charge; where a record can only be read on site, the test is whether the source allows the visit within those 20 days (E1527-21, 8.1.5).

Time and cost are among the factors in deciding how far to research adjoining properties and the surrounding area (E1527-21, 8.3.9, 8.3.10). When a standard government record source lists the subject property or an adjoining property, the standard calls for a review of the pertinent regulatory files; if the environmental professional judges that review unwarranted, the report must say why (E1527-21, 8.2.3.1).

How long the work stays usable

Under the rule, the inquiry as a whole "must be conducted within one year prior to the date of acquisition of the subject property" (40 CFR 312.20). Five components must be no more than 180 days old at acquisition, counting from when each was done or last updated: interviews, searches for environmental cleanup liens, reviews of government records, visual inspections, and the environmental professional's declaration (40 CFR 312.20; E1527-21, 4.6.2). The standard presumes a conforming assessment viable when it was conducted within 180 days before acquisition, subject to the user's own tasks and to not using prior information that is known to be wrong or plainly wrong (E1527-21, 4.6.1, 4.8). The report must date the interviews, government records review, visual inspections and declaration, and the lien search too when the user engaged the environmental professional to run it; the report's own date should not be used to judge those clocks (E1527-21, 4.6.1, 4.6.3). A later user may draw on a prior assessment to avoid repeating work, but only where its procedures met or exceeded the standard, the updates the standard calls for are made, and conditions likely to bear on recognized environmental conditions are looked at afresh. The later user must also meet the user's responsibilities, and the standard gives no right to use or rely on another party's assessment (E1527-21, 4.6.4, 4.7, 4.7.1).

What the user does

The standard gives the user tasks of its own and says the AAI rule requires them of anyone seeking a landowner liability protection (E1527-21, 6.1). They are a title or judicial records search for environmental liens and AULs, the user's specialized knowledge, actual knowledge of liens or AULs, how the purchase price compares with what the property would be worth uncontaminated, commonly known or reasonably ascertainable information, and the degree of obviousness of releases or threatened releases (E1527-21, 6.2 to 6.7). Either the user tells the environmental professional why the Phase I is being done, or the environmental professional must assume it is to qualify for a landowner liability protection and say so in the report (E1527-21, 6.8).

The environmental professional must ask for the results of these tasks, though the user is not required to hand them over (E1527-21, 6.1). The title search is not the environmental professional's job unless it is added to the scope (E1527-21, 6.2.3). The user need not disclose the purchase price, and no appraisal is required (E1527-21, 6.5). The standard's optional user questionnaire, in a nonmandatory appendix, also asks for the scope of services wanted and a site contact (E1527-21, 6.1, X3.1.4, X3.1.6).

Non-scope considerations are the user's choice

Asbestos-containing building materials and lead-based paint unrelated to releases, naturally occurring radon, mold, wetlands and the other non-scope considerations lie outside the practice, and no assessment of them is needed for all appropriate inquiries (E1527-21, 13.1.2, 13.1.5). Whether to include one should be weighed against the property and the reason for the assessment, and agreed between user and environmental professional as an additional service before the work begins (E1527-21, 1.4). The standard says additional services, recommendations among them, should be in the report only if the terms of engagement call for them (E1527-21, 12.9, 12.10). The nonmandatory appendix on common non-scope issues says that including one in a Phase I report rests wholly with the user, by its risk tolerance and the needs of the transaction (E1527-21, Appendix X6).

This page is general reference. It does not assess any property. ASTM E1527-21 is the standard and is not reproduced here.