Wyoming Home Inspections, LLC
Phase 1 Environmental Assessments
What are Phase I Site Assessments?

Environmental site assessments are a vital tool for corporate managers,
investors, borrowers, and lenders to meet legal, financial and ethical needs for due
diligence research on being developed and vacant properties before purchase, sale,
development, refinancing, or foreclosure. The threat of litigation over damage to
natural resources or human health and the potential and actual cost of remedial action
are important considerations with every property transaction.

Environmental site assessments evaluate existing environmental problems from past
operations and potential environmental problems from current or proposed operations
at a site.  The ASTM provides standards for:
  • Phase I Environmental Site Assessments
  • Phase II Preliminary Contamination Assessments Involving Sample Collection and
    Analysis
  • Phase III Contamination Assessments and Remediation

Most environmental site assessments performed in Wyoming are Phase I assessments.
A Phase I survey includes the following components:
  • An inspection of the subject property.
  • A review of pertinent records for evidence of present and historical use of the    
    subject and adjacent properties.
  • Interviews with current owners and occupants as well as local government
    officials.
  • Evaluation of information gathered and development of a report.
  • In some cases, samples are collected of building materials to determine if PCBs,
    asbestos and/or lead are present. If contamination is detected or suspected
    additional sampling for soil or groundwater may be needed - this leads into a
    "Phase II" assessment.

Who Would Benefit From a Phase I Survey?

Environmental site assessments are often conducted on properties at the request of
banks, insurance companies, real estate financing companies, industrial companies,
law firms, public and government agencies.
Landowners such as private companies
and public institutions want to ensure that
any property they acquire is either free of
contamination, or that the contamination
can be identified to determine the cost of
remediation, and that cost factored into the
selling price. Anyone considering purchasing
commercial property, or property that may
have been used commercially in the past,
should consider a Phase 1 Site Assessment.
Similarly. Property owners who wish to sell a
property often have a Phase I conducted before they put the property on the market in
order to correct any problems found, thus getting a better price.

My Phase I ESA Report Includes:

  • EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - Summarizes all potential environmental concerns identified or disclosed as
    existing on a subject property and/or adjacent or nearby properties
  • INTRODUCTION - Contains general information on the Purpose, Methodology, and Scope of Services for
    the Phase I ESA, as well as which parities granted Authorization and Access, a Definition of Subject
    Property Boundaries, the Warranty, and the Limitations of the Phase I ESA.
  • SUBJECT PROPERTY DESCRIPTION - Describes the Location, Immediate Boundaries, Dimensions,
    Function, Zoning, Improvements, Utilities, Topography and Drainage Patterns, Geology, and Soil
    Characteristics of a subject property.
  • ADJACENT/NEAR PROPERTIES DESCRIPTION - Describes the land use of properties immediately
    adjacent to and/or near the subject property to a distance at which potential environmental concerns on
    those properties will no longer represent a concern to the subject property.
  • HISTORICAL RESEARCH - Includes the reviews of historical information sources such as topographic
    maps, aerial photographs and city directories in an effort to determine all past land uses of a subject and
    adjacent properties.
  • REGULATORY AGENCIES RESEARCH - Lists the reviewed regulatory agency databases and summarizes
    the sites which are potential environmental concerns to the subject property
  • INTERVIEWS AND OTHER INFORMATION - Presents information on a subject property or adjacent
    properties disclosed through persons knowledgeable about those properties, as well as other information
    including radon gas concentrations and wetlands status.
  • POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS - Summarizes the available information on potential
    environmental concerns identified or disclosed to exist on a subject property or adjacent/near properties.
  • ESA OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS - Presents the significant environmental concerns
    associated with a subject property and/or adjacent or nearby properties, and recommends what steps
    should be taken to address those concerns.
  • APPENDICES - Includes copies of reproducible information sources reviewed during the Phase I ESA, as
    well as an area vicinity map and a site diagram detailing any potential environmental concerns.

The Civilian Federal Agency Task Force has put together a guide for real estate transactions; the "CFATF
Guide on Evaluating Environmental Liability for Property Transfers" which can be viewed and down loaded at
http://www.ehso.com/EnvirAssess.htm#PhaseI