When you are in the process of purchasing a new property, an environmental site assessment (ESA) may be an information-gathering tool that you are considering. ESAs help you find out what you’re getting into and ensure that you have all the particulars to support an educated decision on your transaction. They give a comprehensive, non-intrusive look at the entire property and its neighbouring land and provide you with a baseline environmental condition for the probability, types, and locations of problematic uncertainties, or contaminants, that may be present at your site.
(*There are 3 phases of ESA but for the purpose of this article, we will focus on Phase I.)
Why are ESAs Required? The Legalities
Unquestionably, the consequences of purchasing a contaminated property can lead to astronomical costs in remediation and litigation. Some lenders and insurance companies even require a Phase I ESA as a condition to financing (most likely for commercial purchases), especially if there are known or suspected contaminants in the area. An assessment is incredibly useful to you in determining your course of action, as its purpose is to identify current and potential site contamination through a collection of data sources. During the site assessment process, historical records will be reviewed, interviews with site owners will be conducted, and a site inspection will be performed by an environmental professional. ESAs help manage your environmental liabilities while fulfilling government requirements and performing your due diligence in the protection of our health and the environment.
In Canada, the murky maze of environmental legislation can be complex to navigate through without the involvement of an experienced environmental professional.
Under both federal and provincial law, many types of projects require an ESA to ensure that environmental factors are considered throughout the initial planning stages of a project. A competent environmental consultant will have extensive knowledge of the federal environmental acts - the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Canada Water Act, and the Impact Assessment Act. Here in Newfoundland & Labrador, jurisdiction is contained in the Environmental Protection Act, SNL 2002 cE-14.2, the Environmental Assessment Regulations, the Heating Oil Storage Tank System Regulations, and the Storage and the Handling of Gasoline and Associated Products Regulations.
The CSA Framework
The Canadian Standards Association CSA Z768-01 Standard provides a consistent framework that environmental professionals (assessors) use to provide their clients with an organized, clear, and concise scenario. By offering simplified, logical, and systematic procedures, your assessor can focus on providing you with the pertinent information that will help you with deciding whether to purchase or not or go through further testing that may include sampling (Phase II & III) which can enact a site remediation project.
Ok, so what does a Phase I ESA Entail? Reviews & Observations
Think of the ESA as an extensive home inspection that includes a visual property analysis and a historical report. Each site is unique, making it critical to understand the environmental conditions on a local scale.
According to the CSA guideline, there are four components of a Phase I ESA:
1. The evaluation and reporting of existing information collected through a records review,
2. An on-site visitation and visual inspection,
3. Interviews, and
4. An evaluation of gathered information and reporting.
Reviewing all documents provided by the client and a public records search is the first activity in our Phase I ESA. This provides us with an in-depth understanding of the site history and gives us knowledge of the range of possibilities with respect to sources of potential and factual contamination. Sources of review may include an electronic environmental database search (Historical Environmental Information Report Searches: HEIRS), reviewing past and current property and adjacent property usage (property title searches), and insurance policies that have or are in place. In this stage, we essentially dig into whatever means are available to give us the big picture.
Next, we will visit your property. The site visit will be conducted after completion of the records review so that we can target specific areas of the property for further investigation. A list of all identifiable hazardous materials, including wastes, will be made and additional notes will include relative quantities, types of containers, and storage conditions. Assuredly, we will also make note of any observed, unidentified substances and make recommendations on how to move forward with further testing of those (Phase II). Following this, we conduct an entire exterior and interior building inspection (if they exist at your location).
Following these steps, our final information-gathering source is through conducting interviews. What better way to gather information and back up our findings than to communicate with the individuals knowledgeable on the site operations? Furthermore, we will talk with the neighbours and correspond with regulatory agencies on your behalf.
Our final step is to provide you with the facts. In an easy-to-read format, we lay out the findings and provide you with thoughtful considerations. In the appendices section of our report, we will provide you with all of the findings so that you have a record of them for any future developments.
How do I Initiate a Phase 1?
You, the client, reaches out to us to provide us with as much information as you can. In this initial inquiry, we need to know why you are requesting an ESA (property transaction, commercial development, request from lender, government requirement) and any knowledge and documentation that you have that may be pertinent to this property. This helps us best understand the scope of work so that we can provide you with an accurate quote. Once we agree upon the scope of work and the terms and conditions of the contract, we can commence with our first step of gathering information through a records review.
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