Entry by JoeDerhake Entry This year I think half of the Phase I Environmental Audits that I do are on properties queued for foreclosure.  The Phase I Environmental Audits must meet the ASTM Standard 1527-2007, but in a foreclosure environment there are a few differences.   First, most clients want the Phase I Environmental Audit to be…

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry As an engineer that has been providing lenders Probable Maximum Loss (PML) reports for the past 15 years, I was hopeful that the two new ASTM Standards published in 2007 would standardize the practice of PMLs.    However, the ASTM Standards are overly flexible and have not resulted in sufficient uniformity.   For…

Entry by JoeDerhake The debate has raged through our profession for years.  Finally, the USGS has settled the issue:  groundwater is one word.    It has been a longstanding practice within the USGS to spell ground water as two words and to hyphenate when ground water is used as a modifier (e.g., ground-water hydrology). Ground…

Entry by JoeDerhake For the past 2 months I have been administering a survey on behalf of the Environmental Bankers Association.  I have surveyed 20 Environmental Consultants, 19 Environmental Bankers, and 4 Environmental attorneys on what is and is not a REC.   I presented 7 case studies and asked 30 questions on risk tolerance and…