EPA Finalizes Rule on “All Appropriate Inquiries”
November 14, 2005
Two articles from the Martindale.com website explore the Final Rule issued on November 1, 2005 by the EPA. The rule doesn’t differ much from the earlier proposed rule and clarifies what the agency considers to satisfy the "all appropriate inquiries" standard under CERCLA. As the first article by Suzanne C. Lacampagne and Hong N. Huynh comments, "The long-awaited rule provides some clarification with respect to the responsibilities of potential buyers of environmentally contaminated property as well as imposes additional burden on them." The second article by Jean H. McCreary and James S. Kerouac presents some of the same information with a slightly more purchaser-oriented analysis. Registration is free but required for full access to both articles. The text of the final rule can be found here in PDF format.
The Airport Lawyer 
March 17, 2006 at 2:11 pm
Of course, this new AAI rule is all about preserving an innocent landowner or bona fide prospective purchaser defense when buying contaminated property. I’m just an environmental scientist and not a lawyer, but my lawyer friends tell me that while this is an important development, it will be interesting to see if this ultimately proves to be adequate protection for purchasers.
One thing folks can be sure of is that they will be paying a bit more for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments come November when the rule takes effect. Also, your readers would be well-advised to check that their environmental consultant meets the new criteria for “Environmental Professional.” Here in California, the REA certification had (until now) been understood to be adequate qualification for conducting Phase I’s. However, the qualifications for getting an REA are not exactly the same as EPA’s definition of “Environmental Professional” so folks are in a bit of a tizzy about this.