Purpose—The purpose of this practice is to define goodcommercial and customary practice in the United States of Americafor conducting an environmental siteassessment² of a parcel of commercial realestate with respect to the range of contaminants within thescope of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation andLiability Act (CERCLA) (42 U.S.C. §9601) and petroleumproducts. As such, this practice is intended to permit a userto satisfy one of the requirements to qualify for the innocentlandowner, contiguous property owner, or bona fide prospectivepurchaser limitations on CERCLA liability (hereinafter, the'landowner liability protections,' or 'LLPs'): that is, thepractice that constitutes all appropriate inquiries into theprevious ownership and uses of the property consistent with goodcommercial and customary practice as defined at 42 U.S.C.§9601(35)(B). (See Appendix X1 for an outline of CERCLA's liabilityand defense provisions.) Controlled substances are not includedwithin the scope of this standard. Persons conducting anenvironmental site assessment as part of an EPABrownfields Assessment and Characterization Grant awarded underCERCLA 42 U.S.C. §9604(k)(2)(B) must include controlled substancesas defined in the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. §802) withinthe scope of the assessment investigations to the extent directedin the terms and conditions of the specific grant or cooperativeagreement. Additionally, an evaluation of businessenvironmental risk associated with a parcel of commercialreal estate may necessitate investigation beyond thatidentified in this practice (see Sections 1.3 and 13).
Recognized Environmental Conditions—In defining astandard of good commercial and customary practice for conductingan environmental site assessment of a parcel ofproperty, the goal of the processes established by thispractice is to identify recognized environmentalconditions. The term recognized environmentalconditions means the presence or likely presence of anyhazardous substances or petroleum products in, on, or at aproperty: (1) due to any release to theenvironment; (2) under conditions indicative of a releaseto the environment; or (3) under conditions that pose amaterial threat of a future release to the environment. Deminimis conditions are not recognized environmentalconditions.
Petroleum Products—Petroleum products areincluded within the scope of this practice because they are ofconcern with respect to many parcels of commercial realestate and current custom and usage is to include an inquiryinto the presence of petroleum products when doing anenvironmental site assessment of commercial real estate.Inclusion of petroleum products within the scope of thispractice is not based upon the applicability, if any, of CERCLA topetroleum products. (See X1.1.2.1 for discussion ofpetroleum exclusion to CERCLA liability.)
CERCLA Requirements Other Than AppropriateInquiries—This practice does not address whether requirementsin addition to all appropriate inquiries have been met inorder to qualify for the LLPs (for example, the duties specified in42 U.S.C. §9607(b)(3)(a) and (b) and cited in Appendix X1,including the continuing obligation not to impede the integrity andeffectiveness of activity and use limitations (AULs), orthe duty to take reasonable steps to prevent releases, or the dutyto comply with legally required release reportingobligations).
Other Federal, State, and Local Environmental Laws—Thispractice does not address requirements of any state or local lawsor of any federal laws other than the all appropriateinquiries provisions of the LLPs. Users are cautionedthat federal, state, and local laws may impose environmentalassessment obligations that are beyond the scope of this practice.Users should also be aware that there are likely to be other legalobligations with regard to hazardous substances orpetroleum products discovered on the property that are notaddressed in this practice and that may pose risks of civil and/orcriminal sanctions for non-compliance.
Documentation—The scope of this practice includesresearch and reporting requirements that support the user's abilityto qualify for the LLPs. As such, sufficient documentation of allsources, records, and resources utilized in conducting the inquiryrequired by this practice must be provided in the written report(refer to 8.1.9 and 12.2).
Objectives—Objectives guiding the development of thispractice are (1) to synthesize and put in writing good commercialand customary practice for environmental site assessments forcommercial real estate, (2) to facilitate high quality,standardized environmental site assessments, (3) toprovide a practical and reasonable standard practice for conductingall appropriate inquiries, and (4) to clarify an industrystandard for all appropriate inquiries in an effort to guide legalinterpretation of the LLPs.
Considerations Beyond Scope—The use of this practice isstrictly limited to the scope set forth in this section. Section 13of this practice identifies, for informational purposes, certainenvironmental conditions (not an all-inclusive list) that may existon a property that are beyond the scope of this practice,but may warrant consideration by parties to a commercial realestate transaction. The need to include an investigation ofany such conditions in the environmental professional'sscope of services should be evaluated based upon, among otherfactors, the nature of the property and the reasons forperforming the assessment (for example, a more comprehensiveevaluation of business environmental risk) and should beagreed upon between the user and environmentalprofessional as additional services beyond the scope of thispractice prior to initiation of the environmental siteassessment process.
Organization of This Practice—This practice hasthirteen sections and five appendixes. Section 1 is the Scope.Section 2 is Referenced Documents. Section 3, Terminology, hasdefinitions of terms not unique to this practice, descriptions ofterms unique to this practice, and acronyms. Section 4 isSignificance and Use of this practice. Section 5 providesdiscussion regarding activity and uselimitations. Section 6 describes User'sResponsibilities. Sections 7 – 12 are the main body of thePhase I Environmental Site Assessment, includingevaluation and report preparation. Section 13 providesadditional information regarding non-scope considerations (see1.3). The appendixes are included for information and are not partof the procedures prescribed in this practice. Appendix X1 explainsthe liability and defense provisions of CERCLA that will assist theuser in understanding the user's responsibilitiesunder CERCLA; it also contains other important informationregarding CERCLA, the BrownfieldsAmendments, andthis practice. Appendix X2 provides the definition of theenvironmental professional responsible for the Phase IEnvironmental Site Assessment, as required in the'All AppropriateInquiries' Final Rule (40 C.F.R.Part 312). Appendix X3 provides an optional User Questionnaire toassist the user and the environmentalprofessional in gathering information from the user that maybe material to identifying recognized environmentalconditions. Appendix X4 provides a recommended table ofcontents and report format for a Phase I EnvironmentalSite Assessment. Appendix X5 summarizes non-scopeconsiderations that persons may want to assess.
This standard does not purport to address all of the safetyconcerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibilityof the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety andhealth practices and determine the applicability of regulatorylimitations prior to use.
This practice offers a set of instructions for performingone or more specific operations. This document cannot replaceeducation or experience and should be used in conjunction withprofessional judgment. Not all aspects of this practice may beapplicable in all circumstances. This ASTM standard is not intendedto represent or replace the standard of care by which the adequacyof a given professional service must be judged, nor should thisdocument be applied without consideration of a project's manyunique aspects. The word 'Standard' in the title means only thatthe document has been approved through the ASTM consensusprocess.
² All definitions, descriptions of terms, andacronyms are defined in Section 3. Whenever terms defined in 3.2are used in this practice, they are in italics.

This specification covers exterior windows, glazed curtain walls, doors, and impact protective systems used in buildings located in geographic regions that are prone to hurricanes.
Exception—Exterior garage doors and rolling doors are governed by ANSI/DASMA 115 and are beyond the scope of this specification.
This specification provides the information required to conduct Test Method E1886.
Qualification under this specification provides a basis for judgment of the ability of applicable elements of the building envelope to remain unbreached during a hurricane; thereby minimizing the damaging effects of hurricanes on the building interior and reducing the magnitude of internal pressurization. While this standard was developed for hurricanes, it may be used for other types of similar windstorms capable of generating windborne debris.
This specification provides a uniform set of guidelines based upon currently available information and research.² As new information and research becomes available it will be considered.
All values are stated in SI units and are to be regarded as standard. Values given in parentheses are for information only. Where certain values contained in reference documents cited and quoted herein are stated in inch-pound units, they must be converted by the user.
The following precautionary statement pertains only to the test method portion, Section 5, of this specification: This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.