ASTM E2790-20

4.6.1 Striking A Balance Between Remediation Liability and Redevelopment Incentives—As more fully discussed in Legal Appendix X1.3.1, Congress sought to strike a balance between the broad liability and remedial goals imposed by CERCLA on responsible parties and the goal of promoting redevelopment of Brownfields sites by removing the disincentives to redevelopment that result from the strict CERCLA liability scheme. Under this balance as discussed in the Legal Appendix (Appendix X1), those performing continuing obligations for the purpose of meeting a 4.6.2 Proportionality to Nature of Release and Exposure Potential—The nature and extent of the continuing obligations should be proportional to the nature, extent, and complexity of the 4.7 Applicability of Other Environmental Laws—1.1 Purpose—The purpose of this guide is to provide information and guidance2 related to the process of identifying and fulfilling continuing obligations3 at 1.1.1 Intended Scope of Standard Guide—As a standard guide, this document provides a compendium of information and options but does not recommend a specific course of action. As a guide, the purpose of this standard is to simply increase the awareness of possible techniques or procedures related to 1.1.2 Continuing Obligations Under CERCLA—Subsequent to property acquisition, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002 (the “1.1.3 Continuing Obligations at Non-CERCLA Properties—In many cases, liability protections under state law require the performance of the same or similar types of 1.1.4 Certain Continuing Obligations Not Detailed in this Guide—The procedures recommended in this guide focus on 1.1.5 Inclusion of Petroleum Products—1.1.6 Discussion of the Related Terms: Activity and Use Limitations, Institutional Controls, Engineering Controls, and Land Use Restrictions—The term Activity and Use Limitation (AUL) is taken from and meant to match the meaning of that term provided in Guide E2091, to include both legal controls (that is, institutional controls) and physical controls (that is, engineering controls) within its scope. Agencies, organizations, and jurisdictions, however, may define or utilize these terms differently. For example, the term “land use controls” is used by the Department of Defense and the term 1.1.7 Properties Covered—In addition to 1.1.8 Presumption of All Appropriate Inquiries and Desire to Qualify for LLPs—This guide is primarily intended for 1.1.9 Timing—Subject to the other scope considerations described in this section, the procedures in this guide are intended to be applicable when a user knows or has reason to know, after the 1.1.10 Determination of No Continuing Obligations Related to Activity and Use Limitations and Reasonable Steps—Section 5 of this guide recommends a procedure for considering whether 1.1.11 Requirements Other Than Continuing Obligations—CERCLA and similar state laws provide various liability defenses. This guide does not provide guidance on requirements other than continuing obligations that may be necessary to retain eligibility for CERCLA LLPs or other CERCLA or state law defenses. See Legal Appendix X1.2 and X1.3 for discussion of CERCLA LLPs and other CERCLA defenses.

1.1.12 Other Federal, State, and Local Environmental Laws—1.1.13 Guide Does Not Provide Legal Advice—As noted above, this guide primarily intends to provide information and guidance to 1.1.14 Documentation—CERCLA requires that a 1.2 Objectives—This guide establishes the following objectives: (1) provide information and guidance related to procedures to identify and comply with continuing obligations on commercial real estate or on forest or rural land; and (2) formulate and clarify suggested industry methods and procedures for identifying and satisfying 1.3 Organization of this Guide—This guide has nine sections and eight appendices. Fig. 1 provides a representation of this guide as a flowchart, and represents decision points for the FIG. 1 Flowchart of Guide to Continuing Obligations