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All Appropriate Inquiries Final Rule
What are "All Appropriate Inquiries"?
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When must AAI be conducted?
All appropriate inquiries (AAI) is the process of
evaluating a property's environmental conditions and
assessing potential liability for any contamination.
Why did the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) establish
standards for conducting AAI?
The 2002 Brownfields Amendments to the
Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known
as Superfund, required EPA to promulgate regulations
establishing standards and practices for conducting AAI.
The AAI final rule was published in the Federal Register
on November 1, 2005 (70 FR 66070) and went into
effect on November 1, 2006.
Who is affected?
AAI requirements apply to any party who can
potentially claim protection from CERCLA liability as
an innocent landowner, contiguous property owner
or bona fide prospective purchaser. Also, parties who-
receive grants under EPA's Brownfields Program must
comply with the AAI rule when using grant funds to
assess or characterize properties.
AAI must be conducted or updated within one year
before the date of acquisition of a property. If AAI is
conducted more than 180 days before the acquisition
date, certain aspects of the inquiries must be updated
(i.e., interviews of current and past owners, review
of government records, on-site visual inspection and
searches for environmental cleanup liens).
What specific activities does the AAI
rule require?
The AAI rule requires the following:
•	Interviews with past and present owners, operators
and occupants.
•	Review of historical sources of information.
•	Review of federal, state, tribal and local government
records.
•	Visual inspection of the facility and adjoining property.
•	Review of commonly known or reasonably
ascertainable information.
•	Assessment of the degree of obviousness of the
presence or likely presence of contamination at the
property and the ability to detect the contamination.

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Additional inquiries that must be conducted by
or for the prospective landowner or grantee
include searches for environmental cleanup liens,
assessment of any specialized knowledge or
experience of the prospective landowner (or grantee),
and assessment of the relationship of the purchase
price to the fair market value of the property if the
property was not contaminated, and any commonly
known or reasonably ascertainable information must
be considered.
The reporting requirements for AAI are provided
in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 40 CFR
312 Subpart C (Standards and Practices). As specified
in 40 CFR 312.11, ASTM International Standards
E1527-13 and E2247-16 can be used to comply with
the requirements set forth in 40 CFR 312.23 through
312.31. For more information on the specific reporting
requirements, please see EPA's "All Appropriate
Inquiries: Reporting Requirements Checklist for
Assessment Grant Recipients" fact sheet.
Who can perform AAI?
To ensure the quality of AAI, the final rule requires
that the person who oversees the conduct of the AAI
and who signs the written report meets the definition
of an "environmental professional," as defined in the
final rule. An environmental professional is someone
who possesses the specific education and relevant
experience to develop opinions and conclusions
regarding conditions indicative of releases or
threatened releases of hazardous substances on, at. in,
or to a property.
The AAi final rule defines an environmental professional
as someone who has one of these qualifications:
•	A state- or tribal-issued certification or license and
three years of relevant, fuil-time work experience.
•	A bachelor's degree or higher in science or
engineering and five years of relevant, full-time Work
experience.
•	Ten years of relevant, full-time work experience.
For more information on the definition of an
environmental professional, please see EPA's "All
Appropriate Inquiries: Environmental Professional"
fact sheet.
Can ASTM Phase I site assessment
standards be used to comply with the
AAI final rule?
Yes. The AAI final rule provides that ASTM
International Standard E1527-13 "Standard Practice
for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I
Environmental Site Assessment Process" and
E2247-16 "Standard Practice for Environmental Site
Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment
Process for Forestland or Rurai Property" are
consistent with the requirements of the finai rule and
can be used to satisfy the statutory requirements for
conducting AAI. AAI may be conducted in compliance
with either of these standards to obtain protection
from potential liability under CERCLA as an innocent
landowner, contiguous property owner or bona fide
prospective purchaser. The ASTM standards are
available at www.astm.org.
Further information
For more information, visit the EPA Brownfields website at www.epa.gov/brownfields.
EPA-560-F-17-195

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