How far each database search reaches

ASTM E1527-21 sets an approximate minimum search distance for each standard government record source (E1527-21, 8.2.2, Table 2). Each search covers records that are reasonably ascertainable: publicly available, obtainable within reasonable time and cost, and practically reviewable (E1527-21, 8.1.4, 8.2.2). Where a distance reaches beyond the subject property, it is measured from the nearest boundary of the subject property, and the standard uses the term in place of a radius so that irregularly shaped properties are covered (E1527-21, 3.2.7, 8.1.2). This page states those distances as the standard's table gives them, grouped by how far they reach, in miles with kilometers in parentheses.

Reaches a full mile

Reaches half a mile

Only the property, or the property and its neighbors

Each row is the standard's record type (E1527-21, Table 2). An adjoining property is one whose border touches the subject property's in whole or in part, or would touch it if a street, road or other public way did not lie between them (E1527-21, 3.2.4).

The table's two notes

• Formerly active sites (note A). For five record types, the table's note says records should be researched for sites that are formerly active as well as those active now: federal sites under CERCLA removals or orders, federal RCRA TSD facilities, state and tribal Superfund-equivalent sites, state and tribal leaking storage tanks, and state and tribal voluntary cleanup sites (E1527-21, Table 2, note A).
• NFRAP sites (note B). The note gives three ways a site gets this status: a first investigation found no contamination, a quick cleanup kept the site off the NPL, or federal Superfund action was judged unnecessary. It warns that the status does not show the site is clean or that state or other agencies need nothing more, and that such sites may appear in other record sources (E1527-21, Table 2, note B).

Which reaches may be adjusted, and which may not

Under the standard, the environmental professional may adjust a distance where 8.2.2 allows it. The factors to weigh are the density of the setting (urban, suburban or rural), how far hazardous substances or petroleum products would likely move given local geology and hydrogeology, the property type, the current and past uses of the surrounding properties, and other reasonable factors. The report must explain the reason for each adjustment and the distance actually used for that record (E1527-21, 8.1.2.1).

Three rules limit that discretion:

• Two reaches are never reduced. The distance may be reduced for any standard government record source except the federal NPL list and the federal RCRA TSD records (E1527-21, 8.2.2).
• Subject property only stays so. Where the distance is the subject property only, the search is limited to the subject property and must cover it, unless the record is not reasonably ascertainable (E1527-21, 8.1.2.1).
• Supplements keep the reach. Where local sources, or further federal, state or tribal ones, add to a record type in the table, their distances should be no shorter than the table's, as adjusted under the standard (E1527-21, 8.2.4).

The federal rule's own list

The All Appropriate Inquiries rule names E1527-21 as a standard that may be used to meet its requirements in 312.23 through 312.31 (40 CFR 312.11), and it keeps its own list of records to review for nearby or adjoining properties, each with a distance (40 CFR 312.26). The two lists are not the same. For one, the rule lists registries of engineering controls at one-half mile, where the standard's table reaches the subject property only (40 CFR 312.26; E1527-21, Table 2). The rule also lets the environmental professional modify any of its search distances on professional judgment, and says: "The rationale for such modifications must be documented by the environmental professional" (40 CFR 312.26).

Related

• The Phase I ESA
• Adjoining or nearby property
• Agency file review
• Superfund site within the search distance
• The records review section of a Phase I report
• The federal inquiry rule: government records, 40 CFR 312.26

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