Environmental Services for Lenders & Commercial Real Estate

The RSRA is an environmental risk screening tool comprised of historical research, physical setting analysis, and review of known, listed potential sources of contamination in the vicinity of the target property. Other data, such as old reports, may be considered as well. This information is evaluated by an Environmental Professional (as defined by the USEPA), who offers an opinion as to the environmental risk.

No. The RSRA is an environmental risk screening tool, while the much more comprehensive Phase I ESA is intended as a defense against potential future liability. A Phase I is required to qualify for the landowner liability protections under CERCLA; an RSRA is not a substitute for it.

EZ-Screen™ is Sierra's name for its Records Search with Risk Assessment (RSRA).

There are a variety of situations when an RSRA can be a very cost-effective alternative to the Phase I ESA: SBA loans over $250,000 where the property's current and past uses are not on SBA's list of environmentally sensitive industries, and non-SBA lending where a first-cut screen decides whether a Phase I is warranted at all.

No. While this quick and inexpensive report was originally developed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) for use on its real estate loans, there is no reason why it cannot be used in non-SBA situations. Many of our smaller lending customers have incorporated the EZ-Screen™ into their lending policy as a standard first-cut environmental evaluation. This minimizes risk and maximizes efficiency for the lender while apportioning costs for the review directly to each deal.

SBA, as well as most lenders, usually like to see separate, discrete reports specifically prepared for each individual parcel. It is even more true when the parcels are not contiguous and have separate histories. So while we can sometimes combine them, it is unusual. One report per parcel is a good rule of thumb.

This does not necessarily mean that the property is contaminated. It may simply mean that a Phase I ESA is recommended in order to adequately evaluate the property. There are a variety of reasons this may happen, and it is typically dependent on the experience and professional judgement of the Environmental Professional who performs the risk assessment.

If you chose the Clean-or-Free option when you ordered, then yes: if it finds elevated risk and recommends a Phase I, the fee for the screen is waived — not credited toward something else you buy from us. Waived. Either way you are free to engage any environmental professional for the Phase I; Sierra has nothing to gain by upselling you to a more expensive report.

When a Phase I is what you specifically request from us — yes. We quote Phase I's per property, anywhere in the United States, and the quote comes from the Environmental Professional who would do the work. What we DO NOT DO is push a Phase I on you when our own RSRA EZ-Screen recommended it. If our RSRA finds elevated risk and you chose the guarantee option when you ordered it, then that RSRA is free. You can choose anyone you want to do the Phase I, whether that is our firm or anyone else. That is the Clean or Free guarantee, and it is the reason you can trust what our RSRA recommends.

No. For most of our first thirty years we were a full-service environmental consulting firm, and that experience is what we bring to every screen we write. We stopped taking that work in 2015. It means the more expensive report is never ours to sell you.

We still have a special relationship with our loyal clients, some of whom have been calling us for decades, so we still take on certain projects for them. If you have one of our old reports and would like it updated or redone, contact us and we will be glad to take a look at it for you.

Yes. We perform RSRA EZ-Screens™ in all 50 United States.