Did
you know?
Due Diligence is a term used for a number of concepts involving
either an investigation prior to signing a contract, or an act with
a certain standard of care. It
can be a legal obligation, but the term is more commonly applied to
voluntary investigations. In the environmental world, an example of
due diligence is the process through which a potential purchaser
evaluates a property for acquistion by means of a Phase I
Environmental Site Assessment.
ASTM International’s recently
published
E2790-11: Standard
Guide for Identifying and Complying With Continuing
Obligations provides guidance for owners or potential
purchasers of property impacted by contamination.
Like with many new environmental standards that are published, I
started digging for more information on this subject.
So, first things first! A definition of Continuing
Obligations is in order: (as defined by ASTM):
Subsequent to property acquisition,
the Small Business Liability...
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So I realize that a lot of my blog posts lately have been swirling
around the Small Business Administration (SBA), but it was a hot
topic in October due the updated Standard Operatin Procedure (SOP)
50 10 5, Lender Development Company Loan Programs that went into
effect on October 1, 2011.
Confused myself (and I do this for a living), I ran across a great
flow chart from Environmental Data Resources (EDR) that helps us
all break down the minimum steps for environmental investigations
of...
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Check out my past blogs for information on lead based paint
(
blog.augustmack.com/blog/environmental-due-diligence-and-risk-management/lead-based-paint)
and lead in drinking water (
blog.augustmack.com/blog/environmental-due-diligence-and-risk-mangement/lead-in-drinking-water).
EPA Works to Prevent Lead Poisoning in Children / National Lead
Poisoning Prevention Week is October 23-29
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is
recognizing National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week...
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Federal Court of Appeals Rules Landowner Not Entitled to
Common Law Indemnification
-by Bill Wagner
Great article on why a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment is so
important!!!
by Bill Wagner of Taft Law on the EDR Commonground Blog
"
A
federal Court of Appeals recently held that a landowner who
expressly warranted in his sales contract that his property was not
contaminated and breached the warranty through no fault of his own,
was not entitled under Illinois law to common law...
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A co-worker recently handed me an article about quality, timing,
and price as it applies to projects and proposals. Apparently
there is an old saying (I say 'apparently' because this is the
first I am hearing of it) that goes "You want quality, you want it
cheap and you want it fast. Well, in the real world you can
only pick two." So I figure this applies to most involved in
the bidding process, but in my world it's about bidding Phase 1
Environmental Assessments, Phase II subsurface...
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So every Sunday afternoon, I receive an email from the
Environmental Protection Agency (Region 5) that provides
up-to-date news and goings-on for my region.
Sharing stories like the one below (partial article only. Follow
the link below for the complete story):
EPA provides nearly $2.4 million for Ohio
projects
(Chicago - October 3, 2011) The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency today announced funding for three Toledo-area Great Lakes
Restoration Initiative projects totaling nearly $2.4 million....
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To all my lender clients out there, here is a great article on some
prime examples of how property contamination impacts lenders
from unexpected costs, liability and foreclosures.
www.edrnet.com/images/edr_contamination_impacting_lenders_071411.pdf
One of my recent posts discussed
the varieties of social media
marketing. Through all of my reading,
research, tweeting and blogging, a reoccuring theme keeps coming
up: If you aren't using social media marketing to promote yourself
and others, you're doing it wrong!
So with that in mind, I need to give a BIG public THANK YOU to
one of the awesome senior managers at my office, Brian
Wilson. I came down with a heinous cold the day before I
was to give a webinar on "Addressing Vapor Intrusion...
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Preparing for my webinar on
"Addressing Vapor Intrusion during a Property Transaction," I ran
across an ASTM article that gave a great basic snapshot of the
four tiers involved in conducting a vapor intrusion assessment. I
have copied an exerpt below, but you can find more information at
www.astm.org.
Anthony J. Buonicore, chair of ASTM Task Group E50.02.06 on Vapor
Intrusion, says E2600 defines good commercial and customary
practice for conducting a vapor intrusion assessment on a...
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If you like my blog, you should
check out my webinar on September 20th at 10AM - EST!
"Addressing Vapor Intrusion During a Property Transaction"
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) E1527-05 or
All Appropriate Inquiry (AAI) Standard Phase I was not written to
address vapor intrusion (VI) contamination. Vapor Intrusion, the
new hot environmental topic, sparked the need for a revised VI
screening standard (E2600-10) pblished in June 2010. Although it is
likely to become part of the...
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While waiting on my client
appointment recently at a local breakfast place, I was
listening in on a neighboring table's conversation.
(Rude I know, but they weren't exactly whispering)
As soon as the word environmental was mentioned during
their chat, my ears perked up. One of the gentleman was
speaking about a recent project they were working on for
development and discussing the environmental considerations and
review that had to be completed prior to breaking ground. He
said that they had...
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Sometimes my role in Business
Development for August Mack leads me into some real cool marketing
opportunities! Last week brought the 2011 Annual Building
Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Golf
Outing.
Every year, the BOMA Golf Committee comes up with a new theme
for the sponsors to develop into hospitality booths, etc.
This year's theme brought "The Great American Cities." As one
of our folks from Programs Development (Kent Johnson) and
myself started brainstorming ideas, we found it...
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Larry Schnapf wrote a great blog entry highlighting
various cases of brokers being sued over issues related to
disclosure of mold, asbestos, lead-based paint, etc.
"Commercial brokers are not subject to the Property Disclosure laws
and plaintiffs have to show some contractual or other duty to be
able to prevail against a commercial broker. A recent case
illustrating this trend is Movassate v Dudley Ridge
Properties, 2011 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 15808 (N.D.Cal. 2/16/11) where the
buyer discovered...
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On Monday, June 6, in Lansing, Michigan, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced more than
$76 million in new investments across the country that will help
redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and help
create jobs while protecting public health.
To check out a list of grant recipients and get more information on
these grants, visit:
www.epa.gov/region5/newsevents/features/20110606-brownfields.html
Here in Indiana, we've been
getting dumped on! In June, Indianapolis got 5.76 inches of
rain, 11 days with thunderstorms, 5 days with heavy rain, and 17
days with light rain according to the National
Weather Service. Crazy, right?! Since most all of
my friends know that I used to work as a Field Scientist
for August Mack and I'm right in the age range of the first-time
homebuyer, I seem to get flooded with mold questions during
this time of year or after heavy rain events. So
I have found a...
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