In a novel case, the Court of Appeals (Second District Montgomery County) held that Ohio EPA had no duty to disclose knowledge of contamination to a buyer of a contaminated property, even though the Agency had records in its files documenting additional contamination.  See, Ohio v. Republic Envrtl. Sys. (Ohio), Inc., 2015 WL 5783650 (Ohio

ASTM 1527-05 was the first ASTM standard recognized by U.S. EPA as meeting the requirements of the "All Important Inquiries Rule." (AAI)   AAI sets forth the standards and practices necessary for fulfilling the requirements to obtain liability protection (i.e. bona fide purchaser defense) under CERCLA section 101(35)(B).  Most Phase I proposals reference 1527-05.  

Performing appropriate environmental due diligence prior to acquisition of any industrial or commercial property is a necessity. Due to expansive liability under environmental statutes, most notably CERCLA (i.e. Superfund), a purchaser of contaminated property can be held liable for all cleanup costs regardless of whether the purchaser caused the contamination or knew it was present.

A task force assigned to review the ASTM standard for Phase I environmental assessments has completed its review of the current standard.  It has sent its recommendations to U.S. EPA who is expected to accept the recommendations. 

Any revisions to the ASTM standard for Phase I has big implications.  Phase I reports are a requirement of the

Liability for pre-existing contamination acts as a strong deterrent to re-use of brownfield properties.  Prospective purchasers simply do not want to expose themselves to potential liability especially when they had nothing to do with the contamination.

At the federal level, there has been an attempt to address liability exposure in order to provide prospective purchasers some level