Discussionspublic

Environmental Due Diligence

This is a public Forum  publicRSS

Topic

    Jim
    Do I qualify as an EP?
    Topic posted January 10, 2012 by JimMember, last edited February 1, 2012
    562 Views, 8 Comments
    Title:
    Do I qualify as an EP?
    Content:

     

    I work for a non-profit environmental organization that recently purchased a property that needs an environmental audit performed and the ASTM's ESA or EPA's AAI are listed as acceptable environmental audits.  It's going to be submitted to the foundation funding the land acquisition.  My question is whether or not I would qualify as an EP under the standard.  I have a BS in Geology with 10 years experience performing water quality assessments, compiling permits, managing environmental projects, and working with municipalities to retrieve necessary documentation.  My 10 years however does not specifically include working on any type of Phase I ESA or other environmental due diligence work.  I have taken some classes through Commonground University (Phase I ESA, and Envt Due Dilegence), so I am now familiar with the standard and the process, but I’m still uncertain whether I’m technically considered and EP.  Any thoughts?

    Comment

     

    • MaxEng
      posted January 11, 2012 by MaxEngElite Contributor

      From 40 CFR 312:

      Environmental Professional means:

      (1) a person who possesses sufficient specific education, training, and experience necessary to exercise professional judgment to develop opinions and conclusions regarding conditions indicative of releases or threatened releases (see §312.1(c)) on, at, in, or to a property, sufficient to meet the objectives and performance factors in §312.20(e) and (f).

      (Bolding is mine.)  Until you have assisted with enough Phase I ESAs to establish the necessary experience to make informed judgments, I do not believe you qualify as an EP as defined by USEPA.

    • GB
      posted January 11, 2012 by GBMember

      ASTM 1527-05 and its included definition of an "Environmental Professional" is not a REQUIREMENT for performing a Phase I, but it is very much the industry-accepted standard.  There is quite a lot of liability involved for a firm performing a ESA work, especially in comparison to the low profit margin.  I would be very very hesitant to perform the work not having the necessary experience to qualify myself as an EP.  If you were to miss something, which in my experience over the last 12 years happens more often than you'd think, your firm could have a lawsuit on your hands, and you may not be able to argue your case successfully having ignored industry standard practices while performing the work.

    • Matt Fox
      posted January 13, 2012 by Matt FoxElite Contributor

      Per ASTM standard, you would need "the equivalent of five years of full time relevant experience" performing Phase Is.  Three years if you have PE/PG/RG.

       

    • Vini
      posted January 17, 2012 by ViniMember

      Hey Jim, I posted your question on Commonground's LinkedIn page and I got this response from  Mark Augustine: President at LandMark Engineering Sciences, Inc.


      The other issue to consider is that of liability protection. You are asking about performing a Phase I ESA for the land owned by your employer. Unless conducted by an independent third-party EP, the liability protection offered by performing the Phase I ESA will likely be "clouded" if any future environmental impacts are discovered. This is the case irrespective of whether or not you meet the definition of an EP

    • Vini
      posted January 18, 2012 by ViniMember

      Hey Jim,

      I have one more response for you from our linkedIn network: Laura Gimpelson from LG Environmental Engineering had this to say:

      "The comments on the Commonground website are valid especially on the AAI protection needed for the CERCLA exemption. Even if you have been conducting NPDES/RCRA compliance audits for 10 years, you do not have the experience to qualify as an EP to conduct ESAs or AAIs."

    • Trey Hess
      posted January 18, 2012 by Trey HessMember

      It sure would stink if I had to go to the same office day after day and see the same folks week after week if the Phase I ESA that I conducted for my employer turns out to be invalidated and my non-profit employer is on the hook for something I missed.  Spend the money, hire the contractor with E&O insurance of at least $1M and have some peace of mind.

    • FStephenMasek
      posted January 18, 2012 by FStephenMasekContributor

      How much do you want to miss, or risk missing?

      I've seen well-educated and diligent non-EPs with significant Phase I experience miss significant things (USTs).  

       

    • Joseph Burley, Freelance Enviro-Tech
      posted February 1, 2012 by Joseph Burley, Freelance Enviro-TechSuper Contributor

      Since you are interested in doing this type of work, find a seasoned ESA pro that you can work with and doesn't mind you following him/her around and explaining the process and giving you the chance to help out with things such as data collection. That's the sort of apprentice-like things you need to do on your way to becoming an EP.