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All Appropriate Inquiries
EPA PUBLISHED FINAL RULE ON ALL APPROPRIATE INQUIRIES The Environmental Protection Agency published a final rule setting federal standards for the conduct of all appropriate inquiries. The rule was published in the Federal Register on November 1, 2005. The final rule and preamble is available below. Federal Register Notice Fact Sheet on All Appropriate Inquiries Final Rule
Fact Sheet on Lender Liability and Applicability
of AAI Fact Sheet on Definition of Environmental Professional
included in the Final Rule
Fact Sheet on Guidelines for Hiring an Environmental
Professional Fact Sheet on AAI Reporting Requirements Response to Public CommentsThe preamble to the final rule setting federal standards for the conduct of all appropriate inquiries includes a summary of the public comments received in response to the proposed rule, which was published on August 26, 2004 (see below for information on the proposed rule). The preamble to the final rule also includes a summary of EPA's responses to many of the issues raised in public comments. Specific responses to individual comments are provided in the document "Response to Comment Document," October 2005.
Comparison of Final Rule to Interim Standard (ASTM E1527-00)The new final regulation is not significantly different from the interim standard established by Congress in the Brownfields Amendments to CERCLA. The interim standard was the ASTM E1527-00 Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process. The final rule differs in such areas as the definition of environmental professional, certain interviewing requirements, and the documentation of data gaps that may affect an environmental professional's ability to render an opinion regarding the environmental conditions of a property. A comparison of the requirements established in the final rule and the requirements of the interim standard are provided in a document titled "Comparison of the Final All Appropriate Inquiries Standard and the ASTM E1527-00 Environmental Site Assessment Standard." Comparison of the Final All Appropriate Inquiries Standard and the ASTM E1527-00 Environmental Site Assessment Standard BackgroundThe Small Business Liability Relief and Revitalization Act (the Brownfields Amendments) clarifies CERCLA liability provisions for certain landowners and potential property owners. The Brownfields Amendments provide liability protections for certain property owners, if the property owners comply with specific provisions outlined in the statute, including conducting all appropriate inquiries into present and past uses of the property and the potential presence of environmental contamination on the property. The Brownfields Amendments amend Section 101(35)(B) of CERCLA and require EPA to promulgate regulations that establish federal standards and practices for conducting all appropriate inquiries. The all appropriate inquiries standards and practices are relevant to:
All Appropriate Inquiries Statutory Language from the Small Business Liability Relief and Revitalization Act [ HTML (16K) | PDF (54K) 2 Pages ] All Appropriate Inquiries Criteria Analysis/Comparison to State, Federal, and Commercial Assessment Approaches [ HTML (451K) | PDF (935k) 168 Pages ] |