Ohio Administrative Code › Title 3745 - Ohio Environmental Protection Agency › Chapter 3745-300 - Voluntary Action Program › Section 3745-300-06 - Phase I property assessments for the voluntary action program

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
[Comment: For dates of non-regulatory government publications,
				publications of recognized organizations and associations, federal rules, and
				federal statutory provisions referenced in this rule, see
				 rule
				3745-300-15 of the Administrative Code titled
				"Incorporation by reference - voluntary action
				program."]
(A)
								Purpose and scope of a phase I property assessment
			 under the voluntary action program. The purpose of a phase I property
			 assessment  is to determine whether there is any reason to believe that
			 any releases of hazardous substances or petroleum have or may have occurred on
			 or from a property including any release due to
			 management, handling, treatment, storage, or disposal activities from on or
			 off-property activities. The scope of a phase I property assessment is to
			 characterize a property for the purposes of participation in the voluntary
			 action program, and to determine the necessity
			 for and initial scope of a phase II property assessment.
[Comment: If the voluntary action is part of a property
				transfer or is to be financed in part or in whole by a lending institution,
				additional requirements for an environmental investigation at the property may
				be imposed by the lending institution.]
(B)
								If the volunteer has information that establishes any
			 reason to believe that any releases of hazardous substances or petroleum have or may have occurred on or from the
			 property, including any release due to management, handling, treatment, storage, or
			 disposal activities from on or off-property activities, upon completion of the phase I property assessment,
			 the volunteer shall conduct a phase II
			 property assessment that addresses each release in accordance with rule
			 3745-300-07
			 of the Administrative Code prior to obtaining a no further action letter from a
			 certified professional, except when paragraph (E)(2) of this rule is
			 applicable.
(C)
								At a minumum,
			 the volunteer shall perform a review of the historic and current
			 uses of the property, review the environmental history of the property, and
			 review the history of the property pertaining to the treatment, storage,
			 management, or disposal of hazardous substances or petroleum, and the existence
			 of source areas on the property, and
			  conduct a property inspection. Any
			 current owner of a property upon which a voluntary action is
			  conducted shall provide to
			 the volunteer any information known by that owner which may be relevant to
			 the
			 determination of the existence of source areas on the property or whether
			 treatment, storage, management, or disposal of hazardous substances or
			 petroleum occurred or may have occurred at the property. Any information that
			 is determined not to be reasonably available
								shall be
			 identified, and an explanation
			 shall be
			 provided in the phase I property assessment report as to why
			 the
			 information was not reasonably available.
(1) Historic and current uses of the
			 property. The objectives of this portion of the phase I property assessment are
			 to establish a continuous history of the uses of the property
			 from the present back to the property's first developed
			 use, or back to 1940, whichever is earlier, and to determine if those uses may have included the
			 treatment, management, handling, storage, or
			 disposal of hazardous substances or petroleum, which have or may have led to
			 any releases of hazardous substances or petroleum on or from the property.
The volunteer shall identify the first industrial or commercial use
				of the property through and including the present use of the property. To
				complete the property history portion of the phase I property assessment, a
				volunteer shall perform the following as necessary to provide a
				continuous history:
(a) History
			 analysis. A diligent inquiry of reasonably available historical records to
			 establish a continuous history of the use of the property, including
			 significant changes in the use of the property, and to determine
			 
										whether there were any releases of hazardous
			 substances or petroleum  on or from the property.
(b)
										Land title and
			 property tax file investigation. A review of the
			 recorded
			 land title records and property tax file
			 records for the property to evaluate current and previous ownership and
			 identifiable uses of the property. The investigation shall include a
			 review of documents pertinent to the
			 determination of whether there is any reason to believe that any releases
			 of hazardous substances or petroleum have or may have occurred on or from the
			 property. The documents include but are not limited to deeds, mortgages, easements of record and similar
			 documents that are reasonably available to the volunteer.
(c) Interviews. Reasonable attempts to locate
			 and conduct interviews with persons who reside or have resided or who are or were employed at or within the
			 areas surrounding or adjoining the property regarding the current and past uses
			 of the property to determine if there is any reason to believe that a release
			 of hazardous substances or petroleum has or may have occurred on or from the
			 property.