Guidelines and Methods for Conducting Property Transfer Site Histories

摘要

The research suggests that there was more than a century of unregulated use and disposal of hazardous materials in Illinois. Yet, current methods used to compile site histories discount this significant aspect of industrial activity. The private sector is fairly well informed about the new legislation which requires reporting on past land use activities, but they are confused about the specific reporting requirements and feel there was inadequate financial support for the act's implementation. Practitioners report that private sector standards for documenting environmental conditions are much more rigorous than those imposed by the disclosure document, and consequently, the new legislation has not interfered with real estate transactions. The disclosure document, as currently worded, is unlikely to assist in the discovery of contaminated land and cannot be used as a due diligence defense. If the state law is intended to alert innocent property buyers to potential environmental liabilities, there is room for substantial improvement, particularly in terms of the site history. This can be done with minimal burden on the real estate industry by providing support to the agencies that must manage and dispense the records crucial to due diligence investigations.