What is a Level 1 or Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment?
The Level 1 is a report. There are many checklists, forms and templates that are sometimes used to speed up the assessment process when unqualified assessors or owners are recruited to complete this part of a real estate sale. Many companies can offer packaged “assessments” that include a quick site visit and a report that is little more than a template mostly relying on public data sources. These templates seldom address the special conditions to be found on most sites. Public sources have many limitations. A custom narrative report is superior and often required if more than a token study is needed. Good reports contain a minimum of twenty or more written pages specifically about the site plus appended maps and data that can make it thirty or forty pages or more for a small site. Besides information learned during the site visit, maps of the site will probably be included. Usually one or sometimes two copies of the report are printed. Lawyers, lenders, underwriters or other intereste
