Environmental Site Assessment Guidelines - Ohio Department of ...

these procedures. This includes locally administered projects, as per the Manual of Procedures,
Locally Administered Transportation Projects. Due diligence issues address the potential liability of
acquiring a portion or all of a property, while due care issues pertain to the proper management of any
hazardous or regulated waste generated during the construction of a project. While conducting
literature search reviews, care should be taken not to overlook potential environmental concerns
during this early level of research. A release during construction of a project could cause a negative
impact on public health causing ODOT potential liability, delay of the project’s completion, and
increased project cost. To ensure the appropriate level of inquiry is undertaken, consultants
performing ESAs for ODOT must be pre-qualified with the Office of Contracts. In addition, the
consultants should be familiar with regulatory agency policies, rules, and regulations concerning all
appropriate legislation including, but not limited to, SARA, CERCLA, RCRA, HSWA, and applicable
state environmental regulations.
ODOT’s ESA process comprises several levels of investigation that include historical/environmental
research, visual assessments, and sampling and testing. Subsequently, documentation of ESA
activities is generally presented in the form of an ESA Screening, Phase I ESA, or a Phase II ESA.
However, there can be some projects that may require other ESA studies (i.e. No ROW ESA
Screening, Phase II ESA Work Plan, additional Phase II ESA, etc.) depending on the nature and
complexity of the project.
The Red Flag Summary for environmental site assessment issues is conducted for projects under
ODOT's PDP. The Red Flag Summary consists of a search of environmental databases maintained
by the USEPA and the OEPA, as well as from local and state agencies such as the health department
and BUSTR (Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations), and ground truthing this information.
The goal of the Red Flag Summary is to identify and locate properties with known or suspected
environmental contamination which could control or influence project corridor locations. The
identification of these types of properties also will assist in the development of a realistic project
schedule if they cannot be avoided.
The ESA Screening is used to identify suspect parcels very early in project development. All
properties within the project or corridor are screened at this level. The purpose of the ESA Screening
is to provide a method for ODOT to investigate projects and to identify suspect parcels requiring
Phase I ESA investigation without obtaining large amounts of parcel specific information. The
properties/parcels identified in the ESA Screening as potential environmental concerns are advanced
for further investigation.
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