JTC imposes Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) requirements, previously known as JTC Environmental Baseline Study (EBS), on industrial land, prototype factory and standard factory sites with activities sited within B1/B2 industrial land usage under the URA Masterplan. These requirements help to:

• Establish the baseline level of potential contaminants in the soil and groundwater beneath the site
• Assess the extent of contamination (if present) of the site and decontaminate the site depending on the ESA results. 

Sites undergoing the following processes, are required to carry out an entry ESA to establish the baseline condition of the site. For sites without an existing baseline, an ESA will be imposed when you:

• Obtain, renew or extend your tenancy, lease or license;
• Transfer or assign^ your tenancy, lease or license;
• Change the usage of your premises to include pollutive activities

^Includes transfer of ownership of firm and corporate restructuring. You are strongly encouraged to alert your cluster officer early of your intention to assign the site so that we can advise you accordingly on the ESA requirements and timelines.

An exit ESA is required at the point of exit from the site (whether via termination, transfer of tenancy or assignment of lease).

An ESA typically takes four months to complete (including the time required to engage an NEA-listed consultant). The process could be longer, depending on the complexity of the decontamination works if decontamination is required.  

The table below shows the various scenarios where ESA will be imposed. 

Please note that New Allocation of Lease, Renewal of Lease and assignment will result in imposition of ESA regardless of Pollutive/Non-Pollutive activities.  

Your activity will be considered pollutive if the proposed main site usage belong to any of the Singapore Standard Industrial Classification (SSIC) codes in in this list;

Please note that these serve as guidelines for companies, and JTC reserves the right of assessing whether the activities are pollutive.

ESA requirements

• If you are required to conduct an ESA, you must engage an NEA-listed ESA consultant. You may refer to NEA’s list of ESA consultants here. 
• The ESA must also be conducted in accordance with JTC ESA Requirements and Technical Guideline.