Environmental Liability

Brownfields Liability

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and amendments provide that the responsibility of correcting past environmental problems can fall to a current owner or new buyer. However, EPA recognized undiscovered conditions could remain hidden until after purchase. The 2002 Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act (the Act) provides for liability protection from future EPA action if the interested party conducts “all appropriate inquiries” (AAI) on their properties.

It requires the innocent landowner or purchaser of potentially contaminated property to conduct a defined level of research for the AAI. The Act establishes standards and practices to conduct "all appropriate inquiries". These inquiries rarely involve chemical testing. These inquiries include an industry practice in our community called ASTM E-1527, or the "ASTM Phase I Standard.”