ASTM D6008 : 24

Standard Practice for Determining the Environmental Condition of Federal Property

Standard Details

1.1 Purpose—The purpose of this practice is to define good commercial and customary practice in the United States for assessing the environmental condition of property (ECP) of federal real property. This practice applies to property under consideration for lease, excess and surplus property at closing and realigning military installations, claims reverting to federal ownership such as abandoned mines, and other federally-owned property. The steps in this practice are conducted to fulfill certain requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) section 120(h), as amended by the Community Environmental Response Facilitation Act of 1992 (CERFA) and the federal real property disposal regulations codified in 41 CFR Subpart C (41 CFR 102-75). As such, this practice is intended to help a user to gather and analyze data and information in order to classify property into the applicable environmental condition of property area types (in accordance with the ASTM D5746, Standard Classification of Environmental Condition of Property Area Types, (see Appendix X1). Once documented, the ECP report is used to support Findings of Suitability to Transfer (FOSTs), Findings of Suitability to Lease (FOSLs), or uncontaminated property determinations, or a combination thereof, pursuant to the requirements of CERFA and CERCLA § 120(h). Users of this practice should note that it does not address (except where explicitly noted) requirements for appropriate and timely regulatory consultation or concurrence, or both, during the conduct of the ECP or during the identification and use of the standard environmental condition of property area types.

1.1.1 Environmental Condition of Property—In accordance with the federal landholding agency policies and General Services Administration’s (GSA) federal real property management regulations, an ECP will be prepared or evaluated for its usefulness (and updated if necessary) for any federally-owned property to be transferred by deed or leased. The ECP will be based on existing environmental information related to storage, release, treatment, or disposal of hazardous substances, munitions, or petroleum products on the property to determine or discover the obviousness of the presence or likely presence of a release or threatened release of any hazardous substance or petroleum product. In certain cases, additional data, including sampling, if appropriate under the circumstances, may be needed in the ECP to support the FOST or FOSL. A previously conducted ECP may be updated as necessary and used for making a FOST or FOSL. An ECP also may help to satisfy other environmental requirements (for example, to satisfy the requirements of CERFA or to facilitate the preparation of environmental condition reports). In addition, the ECP provides a useful reference document and assists in compliance with hazard abatement policies related to asbestos and lead-based paint. The ECP process consists of discrete steps. This practice principally addresses ECP-related information gathering and analysis.

1.1.1.1 Discussion—Prior versions of this practice referred to environmental baseline surveys (EBS). The 2018 Department of Defense 4165.66M Base Redevelopment and Realignment Manual changed the focus to ECP. Appendix 3 of DODM 4165.66M provides direction on the preparation of FOST and FOSL documentation. Section C2.4.2.3 of DODM 4165.66M provides direction for Department of Defense property proposed for disposal and redevelopment.

1.1.2 CERCLA Section 120(h) Requirements—This practice is intended to assist with the identification of federal real property and DoD installation areas subject to the notification and covenant requirements of CERCLA § 120(h) relating to the deed transfer of contaminated federal real property (42 USC 9601 et seq.), (see Appendix X2). Examples of other federal landholding agencies that must comply with CERCLA §120(h) requirements include the Bureau of Land Management, the Federal Aviation Administration, and U.S. Forest Service.

1.1.3 CERFA Requirements—This practice provides information to partially fulfill the identification requirements of CERFA [Pub. L. 102-426, 106 Stat. 2174], which amended CERCLA. Property classified as area Type 1, in accordance with Classification D5746 is eligible for reporting as “uncontaminated” under the provisions of CERFA and the Federal Management Regulations, Real Property Disposal rules codified in 41 CFR 102-75. Additionally, certain property classified as area Type 2, where evidence indicates that storage occurred for less than one year, may also be identified as uncontaminated. At installations and federal property listed on the National Priorities List, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concurrence must be obtained for the property to be considered “uncontaminated” and therefore transferable under CERCLA § 120(h)(4). The EPA has stated that there may be instances in which it would be appropriate to concur with the federal landholding agency that certain property can be identified as uncontaminated under CERCLA § 120(h)(4) although some limited quantity of hazardous substances or petroleum products have been stored, released, or disposed of on the property (see EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, May 2019). If the information available indicates that the storage, release, or disposal was associated with activities that would not be expected to pose a threat to human health or the environment (for example, housing areas, petroleum-stained pavement areas, and areas having undergone routine application of pesticides), such property should be eligible for expeditious reuse.

Note 1: Confirmed releases of emerging chemicals of environmental concern may require additional consideration (see Office of the Undersecretary of Defense. Policy Memorandum for Clarifications and Upcoming Changes to Department of Defense Instruction 4715.18 in Response to Department of Defense Office of Inspector General Findings, April 2022).

1.1.4 Petroleum Products—Petroleum products and their derivatives are included within the scope of this practice. Areas on which petroleum products or their derivatives were stored for one year or more, known to have been released or disposed of [CERCLA§ 120(h)(4)] are not eligible to be reported as “uncontaminated property” under CERFA.

1.1.5 Other Federal, State, and Local Environmental Laws—This practice does not address requirements of any federal, state, or local laws other than the applicable provisions of CERCLA identified in 1.1.2 and 1.1.3. These applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs) may have a bearing upon the ultimate disposition of the federal property. Users are cautioned that federal, state, and local laws may impose additional ECP or other environmental assessment obligations that are beyond the scope of this practice. Users should also be aware that there are likely to be other legal obligations with regard to hazardous substances or petroleum products discovered on property that are not addressed in this practice and that may pose risks of civil or criminal sanctions, or both, for noncompliance.

1.1.6 Other Federal, State, and Local Real Property and Natural and Cultural Resources Laws—This practice does not address requirements of any federal, state or local real property or natural and cultural resources laws. Users are cautioned that numerous federal, state, and local laws may impose additional environmental and other legal requirements that must be satisfied prior to deed transfer of property that are beyond the scope of this practice.

Note 2: The General Services Administration’s Excess Real Property Due Diligence Checklist for Federal Landholding Agency Customers, November 2017, provides additional detail on federal ARARs.

1.1.7 Non-Federal Property—This standard may also be used by tribal, state and local agencies to assess the environmental condition of non-federal property.

1.2 Objectives—Objectives guiding the development of this practice are (1) to synthesize and put in writing a standard practice for conducting a high quality ECP, (2) to facilitate the development of high quality, standardized environmental condition of property maps to be included in an ECP that can be used to support FOSTs, FOSLs, and other applicable environmental condition reports, (3) to facilitate the use of the standard classification of environmental condition of property area types (see Classification D5746), (4) to facilitate the development of a standard guide for preparing and updating ECP reports, and (5) comply with the Federal Real Property Disposal regulations codified in 41 CFR 102-75.

1.3 Limitations—Users of this practice should note that, while many of the elements of an ECP are performed in a manner consistent with other “due diligence” functions, an ECP is not prepared to satisfy a purchaser of real property’s duty to conduct “all appropriate inquiries”, as defined in 40 CFR 312, to establish an “innocent landowner defense” to CERCLA § 107 liability. Any such use of any ECP by any party is outside the control of the federal agencies and beyond the scope of any ECP. No warranties or representations are made by any federal agency, its employees, or contractors that any ECP report satisfies any such requirement for any party.

1.4 Organization of This Practice—This practice has 15 sections. Section 1 is the scope. Section 2 identifies referenced documents. Section 3, Terminology, includes definitions of terms not unique to this practice, descriptions of terms unique to this practice, and acronyms and abbreviations. Section 4 is the significance and use of this practice. Section 5 describes user's responsibilities. Sections 6 – 13 are the main body of the data gathering analysis steps of the ECP process. Section 14 briefly describes the ECP Step 3 classification of environmental condition of property area types. Section 15 contains a list of keywords. The twelve appendices are non-binding and non-mandatory; they provide background, guidance, and examples.

1.5 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.

1.6 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.