In order to address the growing challenges posed by escalating climate uncertainties in the real estate sector, ASTM International (ASTM) published in October 2024 the “Standard Guide for Property Resilience Assessments,”...more
Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as the federal Superfund law (PFAS Designation Rule) in September...more
Once site control is established for a renewable energy project, one of the project developer’s next steps is performing its due diligence to determine if the site is a viable option for the contemplated project. A key part...more
Effective February 13, 2024, prospective purchasers and ground tenants of commercial and industrial property seeking liability protections under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act...more
ASTM E1527-21 to Replace ASTM E1527-13 - On December 15, 2022, U.S. EPA published in the Federal Register its final rule updating its AAI Rule, recognizing ASTM E1527-21 as a method for meeting the AAI requirements for...more
Throughout 2021 and the first half of 2022, the commercial real estate market in the Southeast has been remarkably active. Despite rising interest rates and economic uncertainty, analysts expect this trend of high activity to...more
In mid-March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a direct final rule approving ASTM International (ASTM) Standard E1527-21 as an additional standard meeting the all appropriate inquiry (AAI) component for...more
Join Ulmer for a Live Webinar on the New Phase I ESA Standard and Solving Environmental Problems During Real Estate Transactions - The American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) released an update last November to the...more
On March 14, 2022, EPA published a Direct Final Rule and a Proposed Rule that would incorporate ASTM International’s (“ASTM”) updated standard for conducting Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (“Phase I ESAs”) into EPA’s...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: We noted earlier this year that the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) was in the process of updating its Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site...more
At the same time that Federal courts are strictly enforcing the requirements for All Appropriate Inquiries, ASTM International (“ASTM”) has issued additional, potentially challenging revisions to the E1527 Standard Practice...more
Changes are on the way for ASTM’s Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (“Phase I”) standard, the almost 30-year-old lynchpin of the transactional due diligence process. The American Society for Testing and Materials (“ASTM”)...more
Standard due diligence practices may not necessarily identify all the potential liabilities associated with the rapidly evolving field of vapor intrusion. ...more
The Petroleum Marketers Association (“PMAA”) publication Weekly Review published a March 26th article addressing a new ASTM Standard for spill bucket and sump testing. Spill bucket and sump testing is required by 40 C.F.R. §...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential for impacting prospective purchasers of real estate from performing due diligence. The Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser (BFPP), the Innocent Landowner (ILO), and the Contiguous Property...more
EPA published notice in the Federal Register on June 20, 2017, updating the “All Appropriate Inquiry Rule” for forestland and rural property. A purchaser or a tenant must demonstrate that it has performed All Appropriate...more
Purchasers of commercial real estate must meet a new standard to qualify for liability protection under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and analogous state laws. Since...more
In This Issue: - The Importance of Accredited Investors for Small Business Capital Formation - “All Appropriate Inquiries”: Update on the Environmental Due Diligence Standard - A Hunt for Justice Erodes...more
On January 20, 2015, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California in Coppola v. Smith, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5127, addressed the application of CERCLA’s innocent landowner defense against a somewhat...more
Buyers of real estate and their lenders are familiar with the Phase I Environmental Site Assessment. Originally developed in the 1980s in response to the CERCLA statute, the Phase I protocol has been refined over the years. ...more
On December 30, 2013, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final rulemaking recognizing the newly amended ASTM standard practice for Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessments, E 1527-13 as...more
When you are buying raw land to build homes, you need to know what you are buying. A 100-acre tract of farmland may look pristine to the untrained eye, but an environmental professional may discover a leaking underground...more
A new Phase I environmental site assessment standard has been approved for use in 2014, providing the most current set of environmental site assessment practices for real estate and many M & A transactions. The new Phase I...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued its final rule amending the standards and practices for conducting environmental "all appropriate inquiries" to include a new standard recently made...more
On December 30, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) amended its “All Appropriate Inquiries” rule, which sets out the standard for environmental due diligence in commercial and industrial property...more