Phase I, II, and III Environmental Site Assessments

Environmental due diligence is more than a transaction requirement. It is a practical way to understand environmental risk, support financing, protect property value, and make informed decisions before acquisition, refinancing, redevelopment, or long-term ownership.

Souder, Miller & Associates (SMA) provides Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) services for public agencies, private owners, developers, lenders, attorneys, utilities, energy companies, institutional clients, and other engineering and environmental consulting firms. Our ESA experience ranges from individual small commercial parcels to ranches exceeding 150,000 acres, with project experience extending from the Plains to the Pacific.

Environmental Due Diligence for Real-World Decisions

SMA helps clients evaluate environmental conditions at commercial, industrial, agricultural, institutional, and undeveloped properties. Our work supports property acquisition, refinancing, redevelopment, asset management, risk evaluation, and regulatory coordination.

Our ESA services are designed to help clients:

Understand potential environmental liabilities before closing or financing
Support compliance with EPA All Appropriate Inquiries requirements
Meet ASTM Phase I ESA practice expectations
Prepare reports suitable for review by federal and private lenders
Evaluate Recognized Environmental Conditions and other environmental concerns
Identify practical next steps when additional investigation or cleanup is warranted
Manage multi-site portfolios across multiple states and regulatory jurisdictions

Whether the property is a single commercial lot, a former industrial facility, a transportation corridor, a utility site, a rural ranch, or a multi-state real estate portfolio, SMA provides clear, defensible environmental information that clients can use.

Phase I Environmental Site Assessments

A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is a non-intrusive environmental due diligence review intended to identify Recognized Environmental Conditions (RECs) and other potential environmental concerns associated with a property. SMA prepares Phase I ESAs consistent with ASTM E1527-21 and EPA All Appropriate Inquiries requirements, as applicable to the transaction and client objectives.

A typical SMA Phase I ESA may include:

Site reconnaissance
Review of historical aerial photographs, maps, city directories, and other historical sources
Review of federal, state, tribal, and local environmental database records
Evaluation of adjoining and nearby properties
Interviews with owners, occupants, local officials, and other knowledgeable parties, as appropriate
Review of user-provided information, prior reports, title information, and environmental liens or activity and use limitations, when available
Identification and discussion of Recognized Environmental Conditions, Controlled Recognized Environmental Conditions, Historical Recognized Environmental Conditions, and other relevant findings
Recommendations for additional investigation, when warranted

SMA understands that Phase I ESAs often serve several purposes at once: helping a purchaser evaluate potential liability, helping a lender evaluate collateral risk, helping counsel support environmental due diligence, and helping owners understand future obligations associated with a property.

Support for Innocent Landowner and Other CERCLA Liability Defenses

For property purchasers, a properly performed Phase I ESA can be an important part of demonstrating environmental due diligence. SMA prepares Phase I ESAs with attention to EPA All Appropriate Inquiries requirements and ASTM practice expectations so that clients, their legal counsel, and their financial partners have a clear record of the environmental inquiry performed before acquisition.

While SMA does not provide legal opinions, our environmental professionals understand the role that a Phase I ESA can play in supporting landowner liability protections, including the innocent landowner defense, bona fide prospective purchaser defense, and contiguous property owner defense under CERCLA. We work with clients and counsel to document the scope, findings, limitations, and user responsibilities associated with the assessment.

Lender-Ready ESA Reports

Environmental reports are often reviewed by lenders, underwriters, attorneys, risk managers, and agency reviewers who may not be familiar with the property. SMA prepares Phase I ESA reports with clear organization, practical conclusions, and appropriate supporting documentation.

Our ESA services can support financing and refinancing involving:

SBA-backed lending
Commercial banks
Private lenders
Institutional lenders
Public financing programs
Bond-funded projects
Real estate acquisition and redevelopment financing

When a lender has specific environmental due diligence requirements, SMA can tailor the scope and reporting format to address those expectations. For SBA-related transactions, SMA can assist with Phase I ESAs and related environmental review needs that align with SBA environmental policy requirements and lender review practices.

Phase II Environmental Site Assessments

When a Phase I ESA identifies Recognized Environmental Conditions or when a client, lender, or regulator needs additional information, SMA can perform Phase II Environmental Site Assessments. Phase II work is used to evaluate whether environmental impacts are present and, when appropriate, to assess the nature and extent of those impacts.

Phase II services may include:

Development of sampling and analysis plans
Soil, groundwater, soil vapor, surface water, or sediment sampling
Evaluation of petroleum hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, metals, solvents, pesticides, herbicides, PFAS, or other constituents of concern
Subsurface investigation using borings, test pits, or monitoring wells
Geophysical screening or utility clearance/SUE coordination, where appropriate
Laboratory coordination and data validation review
Comparison of analytical results to applicable regulatory screening levels or cleanup standards
Preparation of Phase II ESA reports suitable for client, lender, and regulatory review

SMA develops Phase II scopes that are proportional to the site risk, transaction schedule, regulatory setting, and client objectives. Our goal is to collect the right information—not more than is needed, and not less than is necessary to support a defensible decision.

Phase III Environmental Services: Remediation, Closure, and Risk Management

When investigation confirms environmental impacts, SMA can help clients move from assessment to action. Phase III services may include remedial planning, corrective action, cleanup implementation support, regulatory coordination, closure documentation, and long-term monitoring.

SMA's Phase III-related services may include:

Remedial alternatives evaluation
Opinion of probable cleanup cost
Corrective action planning
Regulatory agency coordination
Excavation oversight and confirmation sampling
Underground storage tank closure support
Groundwater monitoring and reporting
Institutional control and activity/use limitation support
Risk-based cleanup strategy development
Brownfield redevelopment support
Construction-phase environmental monitoring
Closure reports and no-further-action (NFA) support, where available

Our approach emphasizes practical, risk-based solutions that reflect the planned property use, applicable regulatory requirements, lender concerns, and long-term client objectives.

Alternative ESA and Transaction Screen Options

Not every property or transaction requires the same level of environmental due diligence. SMA can help clients select the appropriate assessment tool based on property type, transaction risk, lender requirements, intended use, and project schedule.

For rural, agricultural, forestland, ranch, or large undeveloped properties, SMA can provide ASTM E2247 Environmental Site Assessments, which are designed for forestland and rural property transactions where site conditions, acreage, access, and historical land use may differ significantly from urban or commercial parcels.

For lower-risk transactions or preliminary screening needs, SMA can also prepare ASTM E1528 Transaction Screen reports. Transaction Screens can provide a streamlined environmental review for certain properties and business decisions while helping identify whether a full Phase I ESA may be warranted.

SMA works with clients, lenders, and counsel to determine whether an ASTM E1527 Phase I ESA, ASTM E2247 rural property assessment, ASTM E1528 Transaction Screen, or customized due diligence approach is appropriate for the transaction.

Multi-Site and Institutional Client Support

Many institutional clients face environmental due diligence needs across multiple properties, states, and regulatory jurisdictions. SMA supports clients with repeatable, scalable ESA programs for portfolios that may include commercial properties, public facilities, utility assets, transportation sites, agricultural holdings, energy infrastructure, maintenance yards, and undeveloped land.

For multi-site clients, SMA can provide:

Standardized scopes of work and report formats
Portfolio-level tracking of findings and recommendations
Prioritization of environmental risk by site
Consistent terminology across multiple states and reviewers
Coordination with local, state, tribal, and federal agencies
Budgeting support for follow-up assessment or remediation
Transaction-driven due diligence for multiple properties on compressed schedules

SMA's broad regional experience allows us to help clients manage environmental due diligence across diverse property types and geographies while maintaining consistency, quality, and responsiveness.

Experience Across the West and Beyond

SMA's ESA experience includes properties ranging from small commercial parcels to very large rural and agricultural holdings exceeding 150,000 acres. Our work has supported clients across a broad geographic range from the Plains to the Pacific.

This experience gives SMA the ability to evaluate environmental concerns in many settings, including:

Commercial and retail properties
Industrial and manufacturing sites
Agricultural and ranch properties
Former petroleum and automotive service sites
Public works and municipal facilities
Utility and infrastructure sites
Transportation and maintenance facilities
Brownfield and redevelopment properties
Large undeveloped or rural tracts
Multi-state property portfolios

From a single transaction to a long-term portfolio program, SMA helps clients identify environmental risk early, document due diligence clearly, and move forward with confidence.

Why Choose SMA

SMA combines environmental due diligence expertise with the broader capabilities of a multidisciplinary engineering, environmental, and geomatics firm. Our clients benefit from practical environmental professionals who understand property transactions, regulatory expectations, lender review, site development, infrastructure, and long-term asset management.

Environmental questions can affect closing schedules, financing, redevelopment plans, and long-term ownership costs. SMA helps clients answer those questions with clear findings, defensible documentation, and practical next steps.

Contact SMA

Whether you need a Phase I ESA for a pending property acquisition, a Phase II investigation to evaluate a Recognized Environmental Condition, or Phase III support for cleanup and closure, SMA can help. Contact Souder, Miller & Associates at ESAServices@soudermiller.com to discuss environmental due diligence services for your next property transaction, redevelopment project, or multi-site portfolio.