EDR AAI Tool Kit: Federal AAI Rule Now in Effect

Under the 2002 Small Business Liability and Brownfields Revitalization Act, Congress ordered the U.S. EPA to codify the first federal environmental site assessment rule in history to address each of ten steps that must be satisfied prior to a property purchase to qualify a landowner for liability protection under CERCLA.

Effective November 1, 2006, a property purchaser must comply with either the federal rule entitled “Standards and Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries” (40 CFR Part 312) or ASTM’s revised Phase I environmental site assessment standard (ASTM E 1527-05) to qualify as an innocent landowner, contiguous property owner or bona fide prospective purchaser under CERCLA.

Despite a one-year grace period to transition over to the new requirements, awareness about the new requirements among lenders, corporations, developers and other users of Phase I environmental site assessments is still not widespread. Environmental consultants have an important role to play in arming their clients with the necessary information for determining when an AAI-compliant Phase I ESA is warranted.

Now is the time for environmental consultants to ensure that they are prepared and get a leg up on the competition by educating their clients. To help you achieve this, EDR has prepared an “AAI Tool Kit” that provides seven components that will help you prepare your business and clients for the new AAI world.

As part of our commitment to bringing superior value to our clients and the entire ESA industry, we invite you to download each component, compliments of EDR.

1.  Executive Summary
   Educate internal staff as well as clients with this concise and informative outline of both the AAI Rule and ASTM E 1527-05.
2.   AAI Fundamentals Presentation
   Be a hero for your clients by preparing them for a seamless transition into the new world of AAI with this educational presentation that you can customize by adding your own company logo to, slide design, company-specific AAI response, etc.
3.  Internal Phase I Training Module
   Ensure that your staff is well versed on the new standards with this presentation covering the nuts and bolts of the new Phase I process under E 1527-05 and AAI.
4.  AAI Compliant Phase I Pricing Worksheet
   Based on EDR survey data, this worksheet provides industry averages of the time required to complete each AAI step. The worksheet will enable you to more easily calculate your price for an AAI-compliant Phase I, and be prepared to educate your clients about any rate increase in the context of the overall industry.
5.  FAQ: Searching for Environmental Liens and Activity & Use Limitations Under AAI
   Get answers to frequently asked questions about AAI requirements relating to environmental lien searches and activity and use limitations (AULs).
6.  AAI Value Sales Training
   Learn key value selling techniques that will help you sell more AAI-compliant Phase Is.
7.  Legal AAI Primer
   Review new areas of risk exposure and discover steps that you can take to cover your bases and avoid liability.

Additional Resources:

• To read the final AAI rule as it appeared in the Federal Register, along with EPA's guidance in the preamble and the final cost impact analysis, download   40 CFR Part 312 Standards and Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries; Final Rule
• Following closely on the heels of the federal AAI rule, ASTM released the new E 1527-05 standard on Friday, November 18, 2005. To obtain a copy of this standard, visit the ASTM's Web site .
• To find out how EDR's Value Packages can help you meet the new requirements, click here or call your EDR account executive at (800) 352-0050.