Environmental consultants and real estate professionals routinely check multiple federal databases as part of property due diligence. Here's what that process actually looks like — and how ZoningScan changes it.
The Manual Process
To conduct a thorough federal database review for a single property, a consultant typically checks:
| Database | What You're Checking | Typical Time |
|---|---|---|
| EPA ECHO | Facility compliance, violations, enforcement | 20–30 min |
| EPA Brownfields | Known contaminated sites nearby | 15–20 min |
| EPA TRI | Toxic releases from nearby facilities | 15–20 min |
| FEMA NFHL | Flood zone designation, floodway status | 10–15 min |
| NWI | Wetland features on or near the site | 10–15 min |
| USGS 3DEP | Elevation, slope, drainage patterns | 10–15 min |
| NRCS Web Soil Survey | Soil type, drainage, building limitations | 20–30 min |
| PAD-US | Protected areas, conservation easements | 10–15 min |
| NPS NRHP | Historic places, preservation restrictions | 10–15 min |
| HIFLD | Transmission lines, cell towers | 10–15 min |
| Census TIGER | Boundaries, geographic context | 5–10 min |
| NLCD | Current land cover classification | 5–10 min |
| Local zoning code | Zoning district, allowed uses, setbacks | 30–60 min |
Total time per site: 3 to 5 hours for a competent researcher familiar with all databases. Longer if you need to navigate unfamiliar agency interfaces.
At typical consulting rates of $100–$200/hour, that's $300 to $1,000 per site just for the desktop database review — before any site visit, interviews, or report writing.
The ZoningScan Process
- Enter an address
- Get results from all 14 databases in under 30 seconds
- Download a PDF report
Total time: under 1 minute. Cost: free.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Manual Research | ZoningScan | |
|---|---|---|
| Time per site | 3–5 hours | Under 30 seconds |
| Cost per site | $300–$1,000+ | Free |
| Databases checked | Varies (depends on researcher) | 14 federal sources, every time |
| Consistency | Varies by researcher | Same checks every time |
| Scalability | Linear (each site = more hours) | Run 50 sites in an afternoon |
| PDF report | Custom (hours to write) | Auto-generated, downloadable |
| Signup required | N/A | No |
Who Benefits Most
- Environmental consultants: Use ZoningScan as a first pass to speed up Phase I desktop reviews. Focus your billable time on analysis and site visits, not data gathering.
- Real estate developers: Screen 20 candidate sites in an afternoon instead of spending $10K+ on desktop reviews before you've even chosen a site.
- Investors: Run a quick environmental check on every deal, even small ones where a full ESA isn't cost-justified.
- Brokers: Flag environmental deal-killers before you list or show a property.
Try It
Search any US address on ZoningScan — free, instant, no signup.