All Appropriate Inquiries
Final Rule
WHAT is "ALL APPROPRIATE INQUIRIES"?
"All appropriate inquiries" is the process of evaluating a
property's environmental conditions and assessing potential
liability for any contamination.
WHY is EPA ESTABLISHING STANDARDS FOR
CONDUCTING ALL APPROPRIATE INQUIRIES?
The 2002 Brownfields Amendments to CERCLA require
EPA to promulgate regulations establishing standards and
practices for conducting all appropriate inquiries.
STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION
A Negotiated Rulemaking Committee consisting of
25 diverse stakeholders developed the proposed rule.
Following publication of the proposed rule, EPA provided
for a three month public comment period. EPA received
over 400 comments from interested parties. Based upon a
review and analysis of issues raised by commenters, EPA
developed the final rule.
WHEN is THE RULE EFFECTIVE?
The final rule is effective on November 1, 2006one
year after being published in the Federal Register. Until
November 1, 2006, both the standards and practices
included in the final regulation and the current interim
standards established by Congress for all appropriate
inquiries (ASTM El527-00) will satisfy the statutory
requirements for the conduct of all appropriate inquiries.
WHO is AFFECTED?
The final All Appropriate Inquiries requirements are
applicable to any party who may potentially claim
protection from CERCLA liability as an innocent
landowner, a bona fide prospective purchaser, or a
contiguous property owner. Parties who receive grants
under the EPA's Brownfields Grant program to assess
and characterize properties must comply with the All
Appropriate Inquiries standards.
WHEN MUST ALL APPROPRIATE INQUIRIES BE
CONDUCTED?
All appropriate inquiries must be conducted or updated
within one year prior to the date of acquisition of a property.
If all appropriate inquiries are conducted more than 180 days
prior to the acquisition date, certain aspects of the inquiries
must be updated.
WHAT SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES DOES THE RULE
REQUIRE?
Many of the inquiry's activities must be conducted by,
or under the supervision or responsible charge of, an
individual who qualifies as an environmental professional
as defined in the final rule.
The inquiry of the environmental professional must
include:
interviews with past and present owners, operators and
occupants;
reviews of historical sources of information;
reviews of federal, state, tribal and local government
records;
visual inspections of the facility and adjoining properties;
commonly known or reasonably ascertainable
information; and
degree of obviousness of the presence or likely presence
of contamination at the property and the ability to detect
the contamination.
Additional inquiries that must be conducted by or for the
prospective landowner or grantee include:
searches for environmental cleanup liens;
assessments of any specialized knowledge or experience
of the prospective landowner (or grantee);
an assessment of the relationship of the purchase price to
the fair market value of the property, if the property was
not contaminated; and
commonly known or reasonably ascertainable
information.
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How DOES THE FINAL AAI RULE DIFFER FROM
THE INTERIM STANDARD?
The final All Appropriate Inquiries rule does not differ
significantly from the ASTM El527-00 standard. The
rule includes all the main activities that previously were
performed as part of environmental due diligence such
as site reconnaissance, records review, interviews, and
documentation of recognized environmental conditions.
The final rule, however, enhances the inquiries by
extending the scope of a few of the environmental due
diligence activities. In addition, the final rule requires that
significant data gaps or uncertainties be documented.
Under the final All Appropriate Inquiries rule, interviewing
the subject property's current owner or occupants is
mandatory. The ASTM El527-00 standard only required
that the environmental professional make a reasonable
attempt to conduct such interviews. In addition, the final
rule includes provisions for interviewing past owners and
occupants of the subject property, if necessary to meet
the objectives and performance factors. Under the ASTM
El527-00 standard, the environmental professional had
to inquire about past uses of the subject property when
interviewing the current property owner.
The final rule also requires an interview with an owner of a
neighboring property if the subject property is abandoned.
The ASTM El 527-00 standard included such interviews at
the environmental professional's discretion.
The final rule does not specify who is responsible for
performing record searches, including searches for use
limitations and environmental cleanup liens. The ASTM
El527-00 standard specified that these record searches are
the responsibility of the user and required that the results be
reported to the environmental professional.
Unlike the ASTM El 527-00 standard, the final rule
requires the examination of tribal and local government
records and more extensive documentation of data gaps.
The final rule includes specific documentation requirements
if the subject property cannot be visually inspected.
The ASTM El 527-00 standard did not include such
requirements.
WHO QUALIFIES AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL
PROFESSIONAL?
To ensure the quality of all appropriate inquiries, the
final rule includes specific educational and experience
requirements for an environmental professional.
The final rule defines an environmental professional as
someone who possesses sufficient specific education,
training, and experience necessary to exercise professional
judgment to develop opinions and conclusions regarding
conditions indicative of releases or threatened releases on,
at, in, or to a property, sufficient to meet the objectives and
performance factors of the rule, and has: (1) a state or tribal
issued certification or license and three years of relevant
full-time work experience; or (2) a Baccalaureate degree or
higher in science or engineering and five years of relevant
full-time work experience; or (3) ten years of relevant full-
time work experience.
For more information on the environmental professional
definition, please see EPA's Fact Sheet on the Definition of
an Environmental Professional.
WILL THERE BE AN UPDATED ASTM PHASE I
SITE ASSESSMENT STANDARD?
Yes. ASTM International updated its El527-00 standard,
"Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments:
Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process." EPA
establishes that the revised ASTM El 527-05 standard is
consistent with the requirements of the final rule for all
appropriate inquiries and may be used to comply with the
provisions of the rule.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Patricia Overmeyer
U.S. EPA's Office of Brownfields Cleanup and
Redevelopment
(202) 566-2774
Overmeyer.Patricia@epa.gov
Also, please see the U.S. EPA's web site at
www. epa. gov/brownfields for additional information.
Brownfields Fact Sheet
AAI Final Rule
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 560-F-05-240
October 2005
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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