On October 6, 2014, U.S. EPA published a final rule amending the All Appropriate Inquiries Rule, 40 CFR Part 312, to remove the reference to ASTM International’s E1527-05 standard for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments. The E1527-05 standard was replaced with the E1527-13 standard by ASTM in November 2013 and, on December 30, 2013, U.S. EPA approved the use of the E1527-13 standard to comply with the All Appropriate Inquiries Rule.
Today’s blog entry is an update to our January 13, 2014 post regarding U.S. EPA’s final rule approving the use of ASTM’s E1527-13 standard for Phase I Assessments. Effective October 6, 2015, any party using a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment to satisfy the All Appropriate Inquiries requirement to secure liability relief under CERCLA’s landowner liability protections must ensure the Phase I complies with the ASTM E1527-13 standard.