Site Selection & Property Evaluation

The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government. The GSA supplies products and office space to federal agencies. In the pursuit of supplying space, GSA evaluates and selects existing and potential suitable real estate to meet the needs of the client agencies. These endeavors include:

• Environmental Due Diligence; GSA Region 8 point-of-contact John Kleinschmidt
• Historic Preservation Section 106; GSA Region 8 point-of-contact Andrea Collins
• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA); GSA Region 8 point-of-contact Sharon Malloy-Standbridge
• Site Selection; GSA Region 8 point-of-contacts Tammy Eatough and Randi Heller

Environmental due diligence is an Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) or referred to as a Phase 1 ESA. This type of assessment is undertaken to discover the potential of site contamination though a review of historic (i.e., deeds and other legal documents, newspapers) and environmental (i.e., geology, hydrology, hydrogeology) documents and interviews of people familiar with the history of the site. This assessment aids in determining and identifies potential or existing liabilities

The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) is legislation intended to preserve historical and archaeological sites in the United States of America. The act created the National Register of Historic Places. Section 106 of the NHPA mandates federal agencies conduct a review for all federally funded and permitted projects that will impact sites listed on, or eligible for listing on, the National Register of Historic Places, and consult with the State Historic Preservation Officer in an effort to avoid adverse affects to those properties. Additional information can be found at the GSA Historic Preservation Program webpage.

All lease actions must be evaluated for their potential impacts to historic resources, including archaeology. If the action is in a building 50 years old or older, is in a historic district, or is new construction, this action has the potential to affect historic properties or resources, and must be reviewed by the regional historic preservation staff for consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officer.

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 was the first major environmental law in the United States. NEPA requires a systematic assessment of the environmental impacts of proposed federal actions and consideration of alternative ways of fulfilling those actions that may be less damaging to the environment. Additional information can be found at the GSA NEPA Program webpage.

Other GSA programs that impact Site Selection and Property Evaluation include the GSA Urban Development / Good Neighbor Program, and the GSA Sustainable Design Program.

Federal, State, and Local Policy Regulations

• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
• National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) as amended through 2006 [PDF]
• Title 40 - Protection of Environment, Chapter I - Environmental Protection Agency (Continued), Subchapter J - Superfund, Emergency Planning, And Community Right-To-Know Programs, Part 312 - Innocent Landowners, Standards For Conducting All Appropriate Inquiries

Refer to the attached Procedures below for additional laws and Executive Orders

Additional Resources

• American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) standard E1527-13, "Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessment: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process"
• Council on Environmental Quality NEPA handbooks [PDF]; Council on Environmental Quality homepage
• EPA All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI)
• GSA Environmental Policy Statement [PDF - 87 KB]
• GSA Site Selection Guide [PDF - 2 MB]
• GSA NEPA Overview
• GSA Real Estate Site Selection and Relocation

Procedures and Documents

To contact GSA Rocky Mountain Region about this program, please contact:

• Sharon Malloy: sharon.malloy@gsa.gov or 303-236-1776
• Andrea Collins: andrea.collins@gsa.gov or 303-236-5374
• John Kleinschmidt: john.kleinschmidt@gsa.gov or 303-236-2858