ESA – Phase 1 Exam – Environmental Site Assessment – study material
Environmental Site Assessment, as defined by ASTM E 1527 and E 1528, is the process by which
a person or entity seeks to determine if a particular parcel of real property is subject to
___________________.
What is the primary outcome of a Phase I ESA - to identify potential _________________. - ANS
✔✔Recognized Environmental Conditions (RECs)
Recognized Environmental Conditions - ANS ✔✔The presence or likely presence of any
hazardous substances or petroleum products in, on, or at a property:
1. Due to a release to the environment
2. Under conditions indicative to a release to the environment.
3. Under conditions that pose a material threat of a future release to the environment.
All appropriate inquiries - ANS ✔✔all appropriate inquiries—that inquiry constituting all
appropriate inquiries into the previous ownership and uses of the property consistent with good
commercial and customary practice as defined in CERCLA, 42 U.S.C §9601(35)(B), that will
qualify a party to a commercial real estate transaction for one of the threshold criteria for
satisfying the LLPs to CERCLA liability
What historic environmental historic disaster marked the genesis of the Super Fund Program -
ANS ✔✔Love Canal
(Niagara Falls, NY - Hooker chemical dump)
Between 1942 and 1952, Hooker Chemcial disposed of thousands of tons of chemical waste and
in 1978 the community was considered a disaster.
Lois Gibbs brought attention to the environmental crisis.
What circumstances would make a contiguous property owner ineligible for liability protection?
- ANS ✔✔Prior or current knowledge of contamination on a property (RECs)
, What are the main objectives of CERCLA ("Superfund") - ANS ✔✔Reduce and eliminate threats
to human health and the environment posed by uncontrolled hazardous waste sites; and
respond to release or threatened releases of hazardous substances
To address the dangers of abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste dumps by developing a
nationwide program for: emergency response, information gathering and analysis, liability for
responsible parties, and site cleanup
What is the National Priorities List (NPL)? - ANS ✔✔Classifies sites that are the nation's
priorities for cleanup under Superfund. Only sites on the NPL may qualify for long-term
remedial actions financed by Superfund. The NPL is updated on a regular basis.
Name the three types of liability imposed under CERCLA - ANS ✔✔1. Strict
2. Retroactive - liable even if actions took place prior to the enactment of CERCLA
3. Joining and Several Liability - any liable party can be held liable for all response costs
How many years back is appropriate for a minimum search for title records (HESS) or to what
year - ANS ✔✔50 years
or to 1940 - around the time of WWI when generation of hazardous wastes began to escalate
According to ASTM 1527, how many years must one go to satisfy appropriate inquiry for title
records? - ANS ✔✔All obvious uses of the property shall be identified from the present, back to
the properties first developed use, or back to 1940, whichever is earlier.
Provide a reason on may not go back to the time a property was first developed. - ANS ✔✔1527
- if information was not reasonably ascertainable and likely to be useful (Data Failure)
Data Failure occurs when all of the standard historical sources that are reasonably ascertainable
and likely to be useful have been reviewed and yet the objectives have not been met.
Environmental Site Assessment, as defined by ASTM E 1527 and E 1528, is the process by which
a person or entity seeks to determine if a particular parcel of real property is subject to
___________________.
What is the primary outcome of a Phase I ESA - to identify potential _________________. - ANS
✔✔Recognized Environmental Conditions (RECs)
Recognized Environmental Conditions - ANS ✔✔The presence or likely presence of any
hazardous substances or petroleum products in, on, or at a property:
1. Due to a release to the environment
2. Under conditions indicative to a release to the environment.
3. Under conditions that pose a material threat of a future release to the environment.
All appropriate inquiries - ANS ✔✔all appropriate inquiries—that inquiry constituting all
appropriate inquiries into the previous ownership and uses of the property consistent with good
commercial and customary practice as defined in CERCLA, 42 U.S.C §9601(35)(B), that will
qualify a party to a commercial real estate transaction for one of the threshold criteria for
satisfying the LLPs to CERCLA liability
What historic environmental historic disaster marked the genesis of the Super Fund Program -
ANS ✔✔Love Canal
(Niagara Falls, NY - Hooker chemical dump)
Between 1942 and 1952, Hooker Chemcial disposed of thousands of tons of chemical waste and
in 1978 the community was considered a disaster.
Lois Gibbs brought attention to the environmental crisis.
What circumstances would make a contiguous property owner ineligible for liability protection?
- ANS ✔✔Prior or current knowledge of contamination on a property (RECs)
, What are the main objectives of CERCLA ("Superfund") - ANS ✔✔Reduce and eliminate threats
to human health and the environment posed by uncontrolled hazardous waste sites; and
respond to release or threatened releases of hazardous substances
To address the dangers of abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste dumps by developing a
nationwide program for: emergency response, information gathering and analysis, liability for
responsible parties, and site cleanup
What is the National Priorities List (NPL)? - ANS ✔✔Classifies sites that are the nation's
priorities for cleanup under Superfund. Only sites on the NPL may qualify for long-term
remedial actions financed by Superfund. The NPL is updated on a regular basis.
Name the three types of liability imposed under CERCLA - ANS ✔✔1. Strict
2. Retroactive - liable even if actions took place prior to the enactment of CERCLA
3. Joining and Several Liability - any liable party can be held liable for all response costs
How many years back is appropriate for a minimum search for title records (HESS) or to what
year - ANS ✔✔50 years
or to 1940 - around the time of WWI when generation of hazardous wastes began to escalate
According to ASTM 1527, how many years must one go to satisfy appropriate inquiry for title
records? - ANS ✔✔All obvious uses of the property shall be identified from the present, back to
the properties first developed use, or back to 1940, whichever is earlier.
Provide a reason on may not go back to the time a property was first developed. - ANS ✔✔1527
- if information was not reasonably ascertainable and likely to be useful (Data Failure)
Data Failure occurs when all of the standard historical sources that are reasonably ascertainable
and likely to be useful have been reviewed and yet the objectives have not been met.
