Environmental Site Assessment may still be skipped over PFAS

You might think that an Environmental Site Assessment would be used to assess whether the property you are buying is impacted by PFAS. These “forever chemicals”, which are now regulated in very small concentrations in many states, are being regulated by the Federal Government in Parts per Trillion.

But, asEPA reportsFederal law does not consider PFAS “hazardous substances”. Therefore, the current ASTM standard on Environmental Site Assessments does not cover them.

You should ensure that your site assessment professional adds the PFAS to their scope of work.

You might find PFAS in properties near properties that have had electroplating or semiconductor manufacturing or recycling, waterproofing and stain resisting, box manufacturing, or any property where fire fighting foam has been applied.

According toInside EPA,If EPA’s schedule is correct, this loophole will be partially closed this summer when EPA blesses 2021’s Site Assessment standard. However, careful property owners will still examine the scopes of work of their site assessors to ensure that their Environmental Site Assessments are accurate.

The EPA is fast moving to adopt a newly revised industry standard. It added per-fluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS), to its methods of assessing potentially contaminated properties. This opens up the possibility for certain parties, who are seeking to win Superfund liability waivers at brownfields sites under the all appropriate inquiry rule (AAI).