What is site assessment?
Site assessment of brownfields is a critical process for communities seeking to understand potential environmental contamination on properties that may have been used for industrial or commercial purposes. Site assessment also evaluates the effect that contaminants may have on human health. This assessment typically begins with a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA), which involves a thorough review of historical land use, records, and interviews to identify any potential sources of contamination.
If the Phase I ESA indicates possible environmental concerns, a Phase II ESA is conducted. This phase includes the collection and analysis of soil, groundwater, and other environmental samples to confirm the presence and extent of contamination.
Additional assessment activities may also be carried out based on the findings from the initial phases. These assessments help communities make informed decisions regarding public health, safety, and future land use, ensuring that any environmental risks are properly addressed before redevelopment occurs. Through this systematic approach, communities can better understand and mitigate the risks associated with brownfield sites.
Assessing Brownfield Sites Fact Sheet
All Appropriate Inquiries
Under CERCLA, persons may be held strictly liable for cleaning up hazardous substances at properties that they either currently own or operate, or owned or operated in the past. Strict liability under CERCLA means that liability for environmental contamination may be assigned based solely on property ownership.
The Brownfields Amendments amended CERCLA to provide liability protections for certain landowners and potential property owners who did not cause or contribute to contamination at the property and can demonstrate compliance with specific provisions outlined in the statute, including conducting AAI into present and past uses of the project. CERCLA provides protection from liability for certain landowners and prospective purchasers of real property, including:
- Innocent landowners are persons who can demonstrate, among other requirements, that they “did not know and had no reason to know” prior to purchasing a property that any hazardous substance that is the subject of a release or threatened release was disposed of on, in, or at the property. Innocent landowners must meet the criteria set forth in CERCLA §101(35)(A).
- Contiguous property owners are persons who own property that is contiguous or otherwise similarly situated to a facility that is the only source of contamination found on the property. Such persons must demonstrate that they had “no reason to know” prior to purchasing a property that any hazardous substance that is the subject of a release or threatened release was disposed of on, in, or at the property. Contiguous property owners must comply with the criteria set forth in CERCLA §107(q).
- Bona fide prospective purchasers may buy property with knowledge of contamination, provided they bought the property after January 11, 2002 and meet the criteria set forth in CERCLA §101(40) and 107(r).
- Units of state or local government that acquire ownership or control involuntarily through bankruptcy, tax delinquency or abandonment, CERCLA Section 101(20)(D).
- Government entities that acquire property through eminent domain, CERCLA Section 101(35)(A)(ii).
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