The DEQ Cleanup Program protects public health, safety, and the environment by addressing hazardous substances and petroleum contamination. Any discharge from a site that affects or could affect water, land, or air quality is regulated and may require permits. Not every hazardous substance cleanup requires DEQ review and approval. However, some property owners choose to seek DEQ review and approval so they can receive a "No Further Action" letter. This letter shows that cleanup requirements have been met. Leaking underground storage tanks need to be reported and cleanup with DEQ's oversight.
There are three pathways for property owners to get DEQ review and approval of a cleanup.
Process overview
If a past release of hazardous substances poses a significant threat to human health or the environment, DEQ will require cleanup. All work plans and reports submitted to DEQ must be signed and stamped by a licensed professional: either a registered geologist or a professional engineer licensed in Oregon.
DEQ offers three pathways for property owners to complete a cleanup with DEQ review and approval:
- Independent Cleanup Pathway: For sites with low or medium environmental priority. The property owner completes the investigation and cleanup independently, then requests final DEQ approval.
- Voluntary Cleanup Pathway: For sites with low, medium, or high priority where the owner wants to work cooperatively with DEQ. DEQ oversees the investigation and approves the cleanup method through a collaborative process.
- Site Response Program: For sites with medium or high priority that may require enforcement. DEQ oversees the investigation and cleanup and selects the cleanup method.
High, medium and low environmental priorities are determined by DEQ staff and reflect an assessment of risks to public and environmental health; site history; known or suspected contaminants; and pathways of exposure, or ways that humans or environmental receptors could be exposed to site contamination.
- High: Eminent threat to people or the environment (e.g, contaminated wells, or dead fish)
- Medium: Impacts that need to be addressed but aren't widespread
- Low: Impacts that are localized to the property and can be easily managed
Before DEQ issues a "No Further Action" letter, every cleanup site must meet the standard of protecting public health, safety, welfare, and the environment. For the Voluntary Cleanup Pathway and the Site Response Program, DEQ also applies two additional principles when choosing a cleanup method: consideration of future land use and cost and a set of five criteria: Effectiveness, practicality, long-term reliability, implementation risk, and reasonableness of cost.
A typical cleanup process has the following steps:
- Remedial investigation: DEQ oversees the property owner's investigation to identify what contamination is present, how much there is, and where it is located.
- Risk assessment: DEQ uses the investigation results to determine whether contamination levels exceed the state's health and environmental risk standards.
- Feasibility study: DEQ evaluates proposed cleanup methods using the five criteria listed above.
- Record of decision: DEQ issues a document called the Record of Decision that identifies the selected cleanup method. This document is finalized after a public review and comment period.
- Cleanup: DEQ oversees and documents the cleanup as directed by the Record of Decision.
- No Further Action letter: When DEQ confirms that cleanup is complete and meets the requirements of the Record of Decision, DEQ issues a No Further Action letter to the site owner. The regulatory process is then complete. Some sites may have long-term requirements recorded on the deed, such as ongoing monitoring or limits on development.
Key takeaways
- A completed cleanup and a DEQ No Further Action letter make a property easier to sell or be developed.
- Consider hiring an environmental consultant to help manage your cleanup. See DEQ's Selecting an Environmental Consultant fact sheet for guidance.