Adjoining or nearby property

A possible source lies off the subject property. The standard defines an adjoining property and asks more about it than about one that is only nearby, a word it does not define. What it asks depends on four things: whether the property adjoins, which records are searched for it, what is observed and from where, and who is asked about it.

What the answer turns on

A recognized environmental condition (REC) is defined by what is at the subject property (E1527-21, 3.2.73). The standard's appendixes are nonmandatory. Appendix X4 says a REC cannot lie off the subject property, though an off-site release can cause one, and puts the source's location, adjoining or proximate, first among its factors for likely presence at the subject property (E1527-21, X4.1).

Whether the property adjoins. A property adjoins when its border touches the subject property's, wholly or in part, or is separated from it only by a street, a road or another public thoroughfare (E1527-21, 3.2.4). The definition names no other kind of gap. What adjoined in the past may differ from what adjoins now, and the environmental professional should take that into account (E1527-21, 8.3.2).
Which records are searched for it. The required minimum search for registered storage tanks and for hazardous waste generators covers the subject property and adjoining properties; other lists are searched to a set distance from the subject property's nearest boundary, or for the subject property only (search distances; E1527-21, 8.1.2, 8.2.2, Table 2). So the required search need not show a tank or generator that is nearby but does not adjoin. The agency file step is written for the subject property and adjoining properties: the file should be reviewed, or the report explains why not (E1527-21, 8.2.3.1). For every listed site within its search distance, adjoining or not, the report gives the professional's judgment on its significance (E1527-21, 8.1.10). In the history, obvious uses of adjoining properties are identified with their earliest dates; uses in the surrounding area only so far as research on the subject property reveals them (E1527-21, 8.3.9, 8.3.10).
What is observed, and from where. Adjoining properties and the surrounding area are observed from the edge of the subject property, from public thoroughfares beside it or traveled to reach it, and from buildings entered during the visit (E1527-21, 9.2.5). The standard does not call for entry onto another property. The rule has adjoining properties inspected "from the subject property line, public rights-of-way, or other vantage point" (40 CFR 312.27(a)(2)). Where what is seen points to a likely release at a nearby property that may migrate, the setting is evaluated for whether a REC at the subject property likely results (E1527-21, 9.4.6).
Who is asked. The subject property's owners, operators and occupants are asked about the uses of adjoining properties and the surrounding area (E1527-21, 9.4.3, 9.4.4, 9.4.5, 10.2). The standard requires a neighbor's interview at an abandoned property with evidence of possible unauthorized use or of uncontrolled access: at least one owner or occupant of an adjoining or nearby property is interviewed (E1527-21, 10.5.5). Elsewhere it lists owners and occupants of adjoining and surrounding properties among its sources of historical information (E1527-21, 8.3.3).

The records that bear on it

The database report. Distance is measured from the subject property's nearest boundary (E1527-21, 8.1.2). Records are often inaccurate (E1527-21, 8.1.3), so check whether a listing mapped as nearby in fact adjoins.
The agency file. The report summarizes the file or other records reviewed and gives the professional's opinion on whether they suffice (E1527-21, 8.2.3.2).

What the federal rule says

The rule defines the nearer of the two:

Adjoining properties means: any real property or properties the border of which is (are) shared in part or in whole with that of the subject property, or that would be shared in part or in whole with that of the subject property but for a street, road, or other public thoroughfare separating the properties.

40 CFR 312.10

Its records section draws the same line. For the subject property and the properties that adjoin it, government records "must be reviewed"; for properties nearby or adjoining, the review "should include" the lists it names, each with its reach (40 CFR 312.26(a), (c)).

How it is written up

An off-site source becomes a finding when the professional judges it may indicate hazardous substances or petroleum products present or likely present at the subject property (E1527-21, 12.5).

Where the professional concludes they are present or likely present at the subject property, the opinion names the release, or why one is likely, then why it likely arrived, with the source's position as one ground among the setting and the file data. Unless judged a de minimis condition or a historical REC, the REC is listed in the Conclusions, and the professional should give an opinion on additional investigation (E1527-21, 3.2.20, 3.2.39, 12.7, 12.8).

Where the professional concludes otherwise, the significance judgment says so, and an opinion on a finding gives its reasoning (E1527-21, 8.1.10, 12.6).

Any view of an adjoining property or of the surrounding area, or an interview with the key site manager, may be what cannot be had. Required information that good faith efforts could not obtain is a data gap, significant if it affects the ability to identify a REC: named in the Findings with the sources consulted, discussed in the Opinions and listed in the Conclusions (E1527-21, 3.2.19, 3.2.78, 12.5.1, 12.6.2, 12.7).

This page is general reference for environmental professionals. It does not classify any property. ASTM E1527-21 is the standard and is not reproduced here; the judgment of the environmental professional on the facts governs.