Why should I conduct a property transfer environmental site assessment (ESA)?
ESA’s offer a measure of protection against potential future environmental liability. A property transfer ESA is conducted to evaluate the actual or potential environmental problems at a given property. Buyers, sellers, property owners, developers, lending institutions, and insurers will often require ESA’s. ESA’s will help insure that the buyer meets the standard for an innocent land owner defense against environmental liability, which requires that “all appropriate inquiry” be made. Interested parties can also use the ESA to help make business decisions regarding the property transfer. Those involved in a property transaction usually need to know if the investment may be affected by environmental contamination that requires cleanup, and the extent and possible expense of the cleanup. While a well-written purchase agreement may provide some protection from liability between private parties, the purchase agreement has no bearing on liability assigned by state or federal regulatory prog
