American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) is revising the current Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) standard. This new revision although not out yet has been freshly titled ASTM E1527-13 and is expected to be released sometime in 2013. The current Phase I standard (ASTM E1527-05) was designed to meet the EPA’s requirement for All Appropriate Inquiry for environmental due diligence. The new Phase I standard is expected to include language addressing the following areas of concerns.
Some likely changes to ASTM E1527-13 standard compared to the current ASTM E1527-05 standard include:
- Clarifying Recognized Environmental Conditions (RECs)
- Historical Recognized Environmental Condition (HREC) have been clarified for better clarity
- Controlled Recognized Environmental Condition (CREC) is expected to be added as new terminology
- Update of Findings and Conclusions sections to reflect the REC, HREC and CREC updates
- Specific inclusion of Vapor Migration/Intrusion
- Specific regulatory file review requirements
- Revisions to User Responsibilities
- Vapor Intrusion or Migration is expected to be clarified as included in Phase I ESA investigations and ASTM E2600-10 and lastly
- Changes to appendices, especially the Table of Contents/Report Format Appendix and Legal Appendix
As more information becomes available or when the new standard is released, Wilcox will keep you informed.