Introducing the Site Inspection Support Network (SISN)
Traveling out of state to conduct a site inspection for a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) or Environmental Transaction Screen (TS) has become more costly and challenging for environmental consulting firms. Air travel has become challenging between fewer flight options, higher flight costs, and the increased number of flight cancellations. Gasoline prices have finally started to come down, however they are still historically high. And we are always being warned of the next wave of COVID-19 or Monkey Pox. Due to the above-referenced factors, many more environmental consulting firms are now considering subcontracting the site inspection portion of Phase I ESAs which are located outside their local or regional area.
The Situation
The Challenge
Once a decision is made to explore the usage of a subcontractor, a series of challenges are presented including the following:
1) Identifying a subcontractor.
2) Creating a field form and instructing the subcontractor on requirements.
3) Receiving the field form and photographs back from the subcontractor in a timely matter.
The Solution - The Site Inspection Subcontractor Network (SISN)
Due to the increased need for experienced Environmental Professionals to conduct subcontracted site inspections, CSTAT has created the Site Inspection Subcontractor Network (SISN). SISN members will fit into one of the following three categories: those that will (1) only engage subcontractors to conduct site inspections, (2) those that will both engage subcontractors to conduct site inspections and conduct subcontracted site inspections, and (3) those that will only conduct subcontracted site inspections.
When conducting a Phase I ESA site inspection on behalf of another environmental consulting firm, the SISN member will be referred to as a SISN Site Inspector. SISN Site Inspectors will utilize the CSTAT Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Field Form (Field Form) for field data collection. The utilization of “standard” Field Form by SISN members creates consistency and thus efficiency for both the SISN members and the environmental consulting firms which engage them. The Field Form follows Section 9 and Section 10 the ASTM E1527-21 Standard (Standard).
Additional Items of Note
-
An SISN member will be identified as a Client or Site Inspector. A SISN Client is the environmental firm who is engaging the SISN Site Inspector to contact a site visit on their behalf.
-
CSTAT will not be involved in the subcontracting process including, but not limited to, vetting, project details, terms & conditions, turnaround time, pricing, and payment.
-
If the SISN Client is a client of CSTAT, there is no additional cost to utilize the SISN. Those that are not clients of CSTAT will have a quarterly access fee which includes access to the SISN database and the usage of the CSTAT platform for the subcontracted assignments.
