CounterPOINT:
AAI Indeed for Inquiring Minds
By Eric Rosina

“For Inquiring Minds” could be the subtitle for the new All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI) regulations recently released by the EPA. AAI will effect all commercial property transactions beginning November 1, 2006. Because the regulations contain no new notification language, these standards are useful only to those needing to know and progressive enough to make the inquiry.

As a rare negotiated rule, the regulations strike a balance between the government’s need to assess liability for contaminated properties and industry’s readiness to take on that responsibility property by property. 

Spawned by President Bush’s signing of the Brownfields Act in 2002, the new AAI regulations are welcomed by the environmental community as a defining standard for what must be done to qualify for liability protections afforded under federal laws.

While the definition of the “environmental professional” was no small source of comment by industry professionals and end users, the final definition is useful to assure report and opinion quality. While optional under the regulation, the new AAI become effective with comprehensive technical guidance cited within the regulation thanks to an ongoing working relationship with ASTM.

The AAI regulations also establish the new term “data gap” and require the environmental professional to comment on the “significance” any particular data gap has on the quality of the entire investigation. While these terms are likely to become new battleground areas in the courtrooms of America, in truth, the rationale they convey are the very basis that the industry has used to select its environmental consultants for years.

Establishing a thorough investigation is the intent of the new regulations and the associated technical guidance. By eliminating “drive-by” or “windshield survey” investigations, purported to comply with existing standards, the regulations will serve this goal and the industry well.

The new regulations and the process by which they were obtained are a signs of a federally recognized industry maturing. By establishing the minimum requirements to achieve liability protection and defining “environmental professionals,” the EPA has provided the long-needed and oft-requested guiding influence of an encouraging big brother.

The fact that the process worked is a testament to the regulators and professionals involved and should serve as an example for future revisions to existing regulations and the development of new regulations from government.  BFN

Eric Rosina is director of environmental services with Stires Associates, P.A., and part of ASTM E50.02, which issued the new ASTM E1527-05 Phase I Standard. Any opinions expressed in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of ASTM.

POINT: For Inquiring Minds Answers to Your AAI Questions
COUNTERPOINT: AAI Raising the Bar
COUNTERPOINT: AAI a Small Beacon in the Fog of Brownfields

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