If you’re buying commercial real estate, you may encounter an Environmental Questionnaire as part of the due diligence process. At A3 Environmental Consultants, we use an online questionnaire designed to satisfy ASTM’s All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI) standard. The twist? The answers depend on whether you’re responding as the “user” or the “property owner” — and sometimes, you’re both.
What Is an Environmental Questionnaire?
The Environmental Questionnaire is a structured survey used during a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) to document what the buyer, seller, or property owner knows about a property’s environmental condition.
The “user” is defined in ASTM E1527-21 as the party retaining the consultant for the ESA. That means:
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In a purchase, the buyer is often the user.
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In a sale, the seller might be the user.
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In refinancing, the user may also be the property owner.
Gnarly to Nice
Why it matters: Your answers establish a baseline of knowledge. This baseline helps distinguish environmental issues you may inherit from those caused by past owners.
A3E’s adaptive online questionnaire uses a mix of closed- and open-ended questions that adjust dynamically based on your responses. Whether you know nothing about the property or have decades of operational history, your answers help create a legally defensible record.
The Process & ASTM Compliance
A3E’s process follows ASTM E1527-21 and incorporates both EPA guidance and state-level requirements. Here’s how it works:
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Identify the User — Determining who is commissioning the Phase I ESA.
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Send Adaptive Environmental Questionnaire — Our online tool adjusts questions based on initial answers.
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Establish Baseline Knowledge — If you don’t know the answers, that’s often beneficial for liability protection.
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Integrate Responses into ESA — Responses are reviewed alongside site records, regulatory databases, and historical use data.
Why ASTM Matters: Compliance with ASTM and AAI ensures your ESA meets the standards required by lenders, the SBA, HUD, USDA, and other federal and state agencies.
The Business Value of Getting It Right
For buyers, an accurate and complete Environmental Questionnaire can mean the difference between inheriting a costly cleanup and avoiding decades of liability. If you’ve been a long-term tenant or neighbor and know of contamination, disclosure is critical — but so is documenting what you don’t know.
By recording your lack of knowledge, you reinforce the legal separation between contamination from previous owners and anything that might occur during your ownership. In other words: “I don’t know” isn’t ignorance — it’s a smart legal position.
If you need a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment on your property or one you are interested in purchasing, give A3 Environmental Consultants a call. We’ll work to get your Environmental REC removed with the utmost in confidentiality, we’ll meet or exceed ASTM Standard E1527-21 on any sort of commercial or industrial property. Our reports meet the requirements of all lenders and government agencies such as the Small Business Administration (SBA), Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). A3 Environmental Consultants can be reached at (888) 405-1742 or by email at Info@A3E.com.
