Environmental Due Diligence

It’s never a happy situation to find yourself in when you’re responsible for finding an Environmental Consulting company to do a Phase 2 ESA on a property you own or a property you want to purchase. Chances are good you’ve never done it before. Below, we try to give you some quick advice on how

The average cost of a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment is about $1900 depending on who you call and how involved the site is. That’s what we here at A3 Environmental Consultants charge for most projects. But there’s a lot more to it, so stick with me if you’re interested in learning more. What kind

As with all things, prices may vary based on many factors but here at A3E our Phase I Environmental cost vary around $1900. But read on because there’s a lot that goes into the pricing of a Phase I ESA. Table Of Contents How Risky Is the Target? How Far Is The Project? How Extensive

Here at A3 Environmental Consultants, we’ve found the general public doesn’t know much about what we do and has more than a few preconceived notions. This post is about some of the the things we’ve come across which people frequently didn’t know. Environmental Consulting: Once soil is contaminated, there’s no cleaning it. No matter what

Welcome, 1099 contractors! At A3E we like to make industry friends so we’re giving you some environmental report examples for your review. It was 5 short years ago that A3 Environmental Consultants was started by our fearless boss lady, Alisa Allen. Her initial goal was to be an Freelance Environmental Consultant to her friends in

You are asking an unintentionally difficult question. In order to answer it we need to know what “Environmental Investigation” you are talking about. If you’re looking for environmental investigation of products like cell phones, you’re in the wrong spot. If you’re talking about commercial real estate, soil or groundwater environmental investigation, read on… Environmental Screen

We’ve learned a few things in the environmental consulting business. We’d like to share them with you. Table Of Contents Who Pays For The Phase I ESA? How Long Is A Phase I ESA Good For? How Much Does A Phase I ESA Cost? How Long Will A Phase I ESA Take To Complete? Does

When clients ask “How Much Does a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment Cost?” there is no other way to answer than to say “It depends”. I know that’s an unsatisfying answer but stick with me! We’ll get you a better answer by the end of this, I swear. But before we start, there’s some background

It’s never a happy situation to find yourself in when you’re responsible for finding an Environmental Consulting company to do a Phase II ESA on a property you own or a property you want to purchase. Chances are good you’ve never done it before. Below, we try to give you some quick advice on how

When clients ask “How Much Does a Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment Cost?” there is no other way to answer than to say “It depends”. I know that’s an unsatisfying answer but stick with me! We’ll get you a better answer by the end of this, I swear. But before we start, there’s some background

When people ask about an Environmental Record Search, they typically can only mean one of a few things. In the environmental consulting industry we use database vendors for our environmental records search. While this function could, in theory, be done without wholesale environmental database reports, it would be much more difficult to do. It’s also

A Phase I ESA is mainly used to prevent the accidental purchase of a contaminated or otherwise environmentally compromised commercial property at a price that doesn’t take into account the environmental risk or impact. The strategies for purchasing a Phase I ESA depend on which party you are to the transaction. There are generally three

When commercial properties are bought and sold it’s frequently done by someone who is new to the process. Chances are high that you are a first time buyer or seller. So once a contract is signed, or better yet, before a contract is signed, the question comes up, “ Who pays for the Phase I

Welcome, 1099 contractors! At A3E we like to make industry friends so we’re giving you some environmental report examples for your review. It was 5 short years ago that A3 Environmental Consultants was started by our fearless boss lady, Alisa Allen. Her initial goal was to be an Freelance Environmental Consultant to her friends in

Commercial Real Estate (CRE) professionals call us looking for environmental advice all the time. We’re happy to be your trusted environmental resource and are on-call to answer questions and help with strategy. We can’t do our jobs without environmental data resources of our own. Some of these are environmental databases of known contamination which we

If you are here looking for a SBA RSRA template download, you can only be an environmental consultant or freelance environmental consultant who is looking to do one of these reports for the first time. Fear not, they are pretty easy and your pals here at A3 Environmental Consultants are here to help. First, let’s

Commercial Real Estate developers are notoriously impatient. The following story is about a Site Remediation Program (SRP) nightmare we are currently working through. Buying a Contaminated Property in Chicago, Illinois We were contacted by a commercial real estate developer who had purchased a former plating facility in a great location to build their next development.

We’ve learned a few things in the environmental consulting business. We’d like to share them with you. Table Of Contents Who Pays For The Phase 1 ESA? How Long Is A Phase 1 ESA Good For? How Much Does A Phase 1 ESA Cost? How Long Will A Phase 1 ESA Take To Complete? Does

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has very specific environmental due diligence procedures which can be confusing. To sort it all out for you, A3 Environmental Consulting built this infographic SBA Environmental flow chart. Depending on the type of loan you are applying for and the use of the property you are buying, you can determine

The elusive SBA Environmental Questionnaire Form. Your first question is why is it so hard to find? It would be awfully nice if the Small Business Administration provided this in an easy format. They don’t. But not to worry, we’re going to cover it every way possible here. SBA Environmental Questionnaire, what is it and

Before you spend a fortune on Environmental Due Diligence, First Search an Environmental Database to see what you are getting into. Working at A3E Consultants for as long as I have, I have come to realize that not every problem needs the most expensive solution to solve it. You can take a more nuanced approach.

IEPA CCDD LPC-667 Download (PDF) Click Here! This is a blank Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) Clean Construction Demolition Debris (CCDD) form LPC-667 in editable PDF format. If what you’d like to dump at a CCDD facility is “Painted CCDD”  which is uncontaminated broken concrete without protruding metal bars, bricks, rock, stone, or reclaimed or

IEPA CCDD LPC-663 Download (PDF) Click Here! This is a blank Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) Clean Construction Demolition Debris (CCDD) form LPC-663 in editable PDF format. A3 Environmental Consultants wants you to have this in the event you have soil you need to dispose of. The CCDD facility is going to need your paperwork

IEPA CCDD LPC-662 Download (PDF) Click Here! This is a blank Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) Clean Construction Demolition Debris (CCDD) form LPC-662 in editable PDF format. A3 Environmental Consultants wants you to have this in the event you have soil you need to dispose of. The CCDD facility is going to need your paperwork

Do you find yourself asking where you can dump clean fill dirt near your project? A3 Environmental Consultants is here to help. We found ourselves wondering the same thing for the projects we work on. We built this map to help find the closest facilities. First thing to notice, this is only good for Illinois

Vapor Intrusion is the ability for volatile organic compounds to migrate from contamination in soil or groundwater through porous building foundations into areas of habitation, causing risks to health and human safety by inhalation of indoor air. The contamination occupies the void space between particles in the soil as a vapor. The vapor is known

NFR means “No Further Remediation”. It’s a letter given to a landowner of an environmentally contaminated property stating that the property currently meets environmental standards set forth by the state. Depending on the state you are in the letter may be called a NFA letter, for “No Further Action”. This does not mean the property

You’ve asked the internet what the best environmental engineering firms are in Chicagoland and the internet delivered you to the website of A3 Environmental Consultants. Full disclosure, we’re not environmental engineers, we’re environmental consultants. My first question for you, is do you know the difference? Are you sure you need an environmental engineer? Unless you’re

SRP is the industry abbreviation in Illinois for “Site Remediation Program” which refers to a body of law and regulation pertaining to contaminated properties. It describes a regulatory program where a landowner can voluntarily investigate and/or remediate their property to receive a NFR (No Further Remediation) letter. The Illinois EPA is authorized to issue No

You’ve asked the internet what the best environmental cleanup companies are in Northern Illinois and the internet delivered you to the website of A3 Environmental Consultants. Full disclosure, we’re environmental consultants. My first question for you, is what kind of environmental cleanup are we talking about? In order to give you the best advice, I

You’ve asked the internet what the best environmental engineering companies are in Chicago and the internet delivered you to the website of A3 Environmental Consultants. Full disclosure, we’re not environmental engineers, we’re environmental consultants. My first question for you, is do you know the difference? Are you sure you need an environmental engineer? Unless you’re

A Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) is the second step of investigation into whether a property has environmental contamination of some kind. A Phase 2 ESA reflects the suspicion of an environmental consultant that contamination exists based on a Phase 1 ESA. While completing the Phase 2 ESA, the consultant will confirm or exclude

You’re here because you need a SBA Environmental Reliance Letter. You most likely just had a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment done and now you’re submitting it to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for approval. You also work for a bank or other financial lending institution and you don’t do this very much. If you

As with all things, prices may vary based on many factors but here at A3E our Phase 1 Environmental cost vary around $1900. But read on because there’s a lot that goes into the pricing of a Phase 1 ESA. Table Of Contents How Risky Is the Target? How Far Is The Project? How Extensive

You’ve asked the google-tubes who the best environmental consulting firms are in Chicago and it delivers you to A3 Environmental Consultants corporate marketing posts. You’re probably thinking, you’re in for some completely biased information. To be clear from the outset, I think A3E is pretty amazing but I’m going to do my best at guiding

An EDR Report is an Environmental Database Report which costs $200 and is completed in 24 hours in most cases. To be fair, “EDR” is also a company which creates these EDR Reports. When A3 Environmental Consultants prepares these reports we use a data provider called ERIS who’s data we believe is better than EDR.

A desktop risk assessment is an environmental database report (EDR) where the scientist who is performing the report doesn’t leave her desk. So much of what we do involves sampling, testing and site visits. It makes the distinction between “desktop” work and “field” work that much more poignant. Desktop risk assessments are done by computer

Due Diligence Period is a legal contract timeframe in which a buyer can inspect a property to determine if a transaction is worth the price being paid. When purchasing really expensive assets there is a lot of things that are unknown to the buyer while the buyer is still prospective. The seller doesn’t disclose everything

What is a brownfield? It’s an urban or suburban site which had a former use such as housing or a factory. Very often, these sites are diminished in value and sit fallow for years because of real or imagined contamination at the site. There are more brownfield sites than you think. Think of any corner

Here at A3 Environmental Consultants, we’ve found the general public doesn’t know much about what we do and has more than a few preconceived notions. This post is about some of the the things we’ve come across which people frequently didn’t know. Environmental Remediation: Once soil is contaminated, there’s no cleaning it. No matter what

CCDD stands for Clean Construction Demolition Debris. Similarly, USF is an abbreviation for Uncontaminated Soil Fill. In Illinois both of these terms are used interchangeably as “Clean Fill”. Both of these terms refer to a body of laws unique to Illinois whereby clean materials can be put into old gravel, sand or limestone mines. These

MAC stands for Maximum Allowable Concentration. It refers to the maximum allowable levels of contamination in clean fill (CCDD). CCDD stands for Clean Construction Demolition Debris and is a body of laws from the IEPA (Illinois EPA) that regulate clean fill operations in Illinois. Only the State of Illinois has CCDD regulations so if you’re

You’re probably wondering how you’ve lived so long on this planet without ever knowing how Illinois landfill pricing works. Settle down nerd. I’m not going to answer every question you have, just give you a slightly better understanding. This article is designed for regular people, new environmental consultants and trucking companies that haul clean fill,

As an environmental consultant, we’re frequently asked for advice that veers out of our lane and into what environmental lawyers do best. While I’ve never meet or talked to the good people over at Spencer Fane, they seem to have some pretty good, concise, advice about environmental law. The following is gleaned from their website,

I thought this article was great information that most people in a property transaction never hear about. You can read the whole thing by clicking here.   Lenders, borrowers, purchasers, sellers, and even contractors sometimes get annoyed with environmental lawyers when we insist on reviewing Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) draft reports, looking at the

You have (or think you have) a leaking underground storage tank (UST). Maybe you’re about to buy or sell a property. Either way, you know it’s going to be a problem. The government doesn’t like underground tanks, it especially doesn’t like them leaking and it gets twitchy if the tank isn’t being currently used for