A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment takes approximately 10-28 Days to complete. How long a Phase I environmental takes depends on the property. In the year 2023, a property with little history can be completed and delivered in approximately 10 to 14 Days or 2 weeks. A property with lengthy environmental records could take up to 28 days or longer.
Why do some Phase I Environmental take longer? The more history a site has the more prior data can be available, this information could be in prior environmental reports that the current property owner may not have or may not share. Prior reports trigger a deep dive into publicly available records such as reports sent to the state environmental agency. Meaning let's say environmental work was completed and reports sent to the state, so the only prior reports are at the state, and you have to request copies from the state. That takes time, often weeks to get.
Now someone reading this is going to say they got a Phase I completed much faster, maybe even in a little over a week. How can some Phase I reports be completed quickly?
Simple sites with no government files to access can be completed in a little over a week as most government agencies are allowed 7 days to respond to public records requests. In New Jersey, an OPRA request must comply as follows:
Under OPRA, the custodian must respond to the request "as soon as possible," but requesters must receive a response within seven business days after the custodian receives a complete request. That does not mean that a record in storage, or one that is difficult to find, will be available during that time.
Fast Phase I ESA are typically incomplete reports.
Curren reviews thousands of completed Phase I reports for financial clients every year and a common thread in the reports is they have been issued even though OPRA and file reviews have not been finalized. Meaning data may or may not exist at government agencies, but a report has been issued with the caveat that if files become available an addendum will be issued to the report. That means two reports could exist. In practice, no consultant should release Phase I without getting all requested data sets back, but it happens all the time.
Buying a property and need a Phase I? Be realistic with your time frames, instead of demanding a date as the environmental professional how long they expect the report to take.
Selling a property, expect Phase I will be completed. Progressive sellers will complete Phase I to both address issues that could arise and to use Phase I to market the property.
Phase I Questions?
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