[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 27]
[Revised as of July 1, 2006]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR312.10]

[Page 395-396]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
         CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 312_INNOCENT LANDOWNERS, STANDARDS FOR CONDUCTING ALL APPROPRIATE 
INQUIRIES--Table of Contents
 
                  Subpart B_Definitions and References
 
Sec.  312.10  Definitions.


    (a) Terms used in this part and not defined below, but defined in 
either CERCLA or 40 CFR part 300 (the National Oil and Hazardous 
Substances Pollution Contingency Plan) shall have the definitions 
provided in CERCLA or 40 CFR part 300.
    (b) When used in this part, the following terms have the meanings 
provided as follows:
    Abandoned property means: property that can be presumed to be 
deserted, or an intent to relinquish possession or control can be 
inferred from the general disrepair or lack of activity thereon such 
that a reasonable person could believe that there was an intent on the 
part of the current owner to surrender rights to the property.
    Adjoining properties means: any real property or properties the 
border of which is (are) shared in part or in whole with that of the 
subject property, or that would be shared in part or in whole with that 
of the subject property but for a street, road, or other public 
thoroughfare separating the properties.
    Data gap means: a lack of or inability to obtain information 
required by the standards and practices listed in subpart C of this part 
despite good faith efforts by the environmental professional or persons 
identified under Sec.  312.1(b), as appropriate, to gather such 
information pursuant to Sec. Sec.  312.20(e)(1) and 312.20(e)(2).
    Date of acquisition or purchase date means: the date on which a 
person acquires title to the property.
    Environmental Professional means:
    (1) a person who possesses sufficient specific education, training, 
and experience necessary to exercise professional judgment to develop 
opinions and conclusions regarding conditions indicative of releases or 
threatened releases (see Sec.  312.1(c)) on, at, in, or to a property, 
sufficient to meet the objectives and performance factors in Sec.  
312.20(e) and (f).
    (2) Such a person must:
    (i) Hold a current Professional Engineer's or Professional 
Geologist's license or registration from a state, tribe, or U.S. 
territory (or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) and have the equivalent 
of three (3) years of full-time relevant experience; or
    (ii) Be licensed or certified by the federal government, a state, 
tribe, or U.S. territory (or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) to perform 
environmental inquiries as defined in Sec.  312.21 and have the 
equivalent of three (3) years of full-time relevant experience; or
    (iii) Have a Baccalaureate or higher degree from an accredited 
institution of higher education in a discipline of engineering or 
science and the equivalent of five (5) years of full-time relevant 
experience; or
    (iv) Have the equivalent of ten (10) years of full-time relevant 
experience.
    (3) An environmental professional should remain current in his or 
her field through participation in continuing education or other 
activities.
    (4) The definition of environmental professional provided above does 
not preempt state professional licensing or registration requirements 
such as those for a professional geologist, engineer, or site 
remediation professional. Before commencing work, a person should 
determine the applicability of state professional licensing or 
registration laws to the activities to be undertaken as part of the 
inquiry identified in Sec.  312.21(b).
    (5) A person who does not qualify as an environmental professional 
under

[[Page 396]]

the foregoing definition may assist in the conduct of all appropriate 
inquiries in accordance with this part if such person is under the 
supervision or responsible charge of a person meeting the definition of 
an environmental professional provided above when conducting such 
activities.
    Relevant experience, as used in the definition of environmental 
professional in this section, means: participation in the performance of 
all appropriate inquiries investigations, environmental site 
assessments, or other site investigations that may include environmental 
analyses, investigations, and remediation which involve the 
understanding of surface and subsurface environmental conditions and the 
processes used to evaluate these conditions and for which professional 
judgment was used to develop opinions regarding conditions indicative of 
releases or threatened releases (see Sec.  312.1(c)) to the subject 
property.
    Good faith means: the absence of any intention to seek an unfair 
advantage or to defraud another party; an honest and sincere intention 
to fulfill one's obligations in the conduct or transaction concerned.
    Institutional controls means: non-engineered instruments, such as 
administrative and/or legal controls, that help to minimize the 
potential for human exposure to contamination and/or protect the 
integrity of a remedy.