I need to know if there are any environmental disclosures required for
the sale of commercial and industrial Real Estate on a national level
(federal guidelines, not state by state).  For example, The U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development for most private housing
(not commercial), has the The Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule
(Section 1018 of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act
of 1992) This can be found at:
http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/disclosurerule/index.cfm

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 21 Feb 2006 09:13 PST

There doesn't seem to be any direct federal disclosure requirements,
apart from the lead-based paint.

However, the Brownfields Act does call for adherence to ASTM standards
of due diligence, and these, in turn, involve environmental
disclosure.

Take a look at this article:


http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3681/is_200204/ai_n9075614
Hidden treasures & hidden traps: A new meaning to due diligence 


especially the text that discusses Section 223 of the Act, which begins:


"Section 223 of the Brownfields Act clarifies the standards and
practices for conducting "all appropriate inquiry" in order to be
protected by an innocent owner defense under federal CERCLA law (and
likely under state laws, by extension). In general, the new law
recognizes the common 1997 standard for Phase I site investigations,
known as the American Society for Testing and Materials ("ASTM")
Standard E1527 - 97 (1997). Parties to a due diligence review are
likely to be using the more expansive ASTM Standard El 527 - 00
(2000), which contemplates an evaluation by the environmental
professional of "business environmental risk" in the context of the
commercial real estate transaction and requires greater detail as to
potential risks that are not being evaluated within the scope of
services..."



Is that the sort of information you're looking for?


pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by jmontauk-ga on 23 Feb 2006 07:20 PST

I guess it just goes state by state and there is no general federal
disclosure, thx for all your comments.

Absolutely. Here's the ABA website page with a bookreview. The
description of the book's contents are very revealing:

Environmental Aspects of Real Estate Transactions 
From Brownfields to Green Buildings
Third Edition
http://www.abanet.org/rppt/cmtes/rp/c4/indoor/earet2.html
..."A guide through the issues, problems, and pitfalls at the
increasingly busy intersection of real estate and environmental
law..."

Check out the Table Of Contents linked at the bottom, here:
http://abastore.abanet.org/abastore/index.cfm?section=main&fm=Product.AddToCart&pid=5350107

I have been doing some looking into this online. So far I have drawn a
blank as far as federal disclosure requirements go for commercial and
industrial property.Even for transactions involving
brownfield/superfund sites, there seem to be none,although there are
clearly defined liability standards for successive owners. It seems,
however, that there are state laws about such disclosures in both
residential and commericial real estate transactions; California has
an especially strict one. Maybe you do need to go to books such as
those suggested by others. I would be happy to post as an answer what
I have found so far, and then if you find it inadequate, I could try
to do some further digging.
Again, many thanks for the rating and tip for last answer.
scribe_ga

I took a look at the article recommended by pafalapa, and it's pretty helpful.
Notice, though, that the Brownfields act seemingly imposes no
disclosure requirements on the SELLER but does impose "due diligence"
requirements on the BUYER. Through disclosure of any environmental
problems uncovered by this due diliegence, the buyer protects himself
from future liability should the sale go through. At least, that's the
way I understand it.