Recently the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued their annual update to their Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The specific ones that pertain to the work that we all do is SOP 50 10 5 (k). The new SOPs will go into effect April 1, 2019 (not an April Fool’s joke, but stay tuned we have a doozy for you coming up). You are welcome to read the somewhat dry text of the revised SOP on the SBA Website: SBA Information Notice; however, we have summarized the pertinent points as follows:
- An Environmental Professional (EP) is allowed to recommend proceeding directly from a Transaction Screen directly to a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment (ESA). This allows for somewhat streamlining the process and a savings of around $1,000 or so by skipping the Phase I ESA.
- The SOP oulines several, “Special Use Facilities” as did previous revisions of the SOPs. This revision includes a requirement that Child-Occupied facilities constructed before 1980 to now undergo a lead risk assessment and test for lead in drinking water. This requirement provides compliance with United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines pertaining to lead exposure.
Our goals are your goals, and we understand that usually means closing the deal quickly and efficiently. Even if there are complicating factors, we have the tricks up our sleeve(s) to keep the deal alive and moving forward.