A New Website for Sierra Environmental Consultants
A faster way to request an RSRA, a free SBA environmental checker tool, and the same Clean-or-Free guarantee since 1993.
Sierra Consultants Blog
Articles, tips and industry notes for lenders and buyers.
What If My Deal Isn't an SBA Deal?
SBA's rulebook is a good guideline even when SBA isn't involved — but it isn't the rule. What governs a conventional deal, which report your lender will actually accept, and the one distinction that doesn't depend on their preference.
Why Clean-or-Free Exists
What our founder saw in the late 1980s — spurious testing recommendations and unnecessary million-dollar cleanups — and why he started Sierra in 1993 to remove that incentive.
Clean-or-Free: A Guarantee of Integrity
What the Clean-or-Free guarantee is, where it came from, and why it removes the conflict of interest from environmental screening.
Records Search with Risk Assessment – RSRA
What an RSRA is, what it must contain, where it sits in SBA's process, how non-SBA lenders use it as a first cut, and lender guidance on why the process matters.
Easily Outsource Environmental Risk Evaluation for Lower Costs, Lower Risks, and Stronger Portfolios
Why a Phase I isn't always required to protect a lender, what the RSRA checks instead, and the case for outsourcing the first-cut screen across a whole portfolio.
Environmental Industry Secrets: 4 Hidden Conflicts of Interest Seen Through Your Customer's Eyes
Four places a hidden incentive can shape an environmental opinion, and the business model that actually removes it instead of just hiding it better.
More Than an RSRA? Different Types of Environmental Site Assessments for Different Purposes
Phase I, limited Phase I, transaction screen, SBA, Fannie/Freddie, HUD, Phase II and Phase III — what each one is for.