Arkansas
Brownfield Program
The Arkansas Brownfield Program is run by the Office of Land Resources of the Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ). DEQ calls a brownfield a property whose real or suspected contamination stands in the way of redevelopment, and the program looks into the environmental issues, settles the cleanup needed and prepares such properties for a new use. It does this through the Brownfield Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP), which offers certain liability protections under state law to parties that clean up and reuse a brownfield voluntarily, and through free assessments and limited cleanup funding for public and nonprofit bodies.
In a Phase I ESA
The Brownfield Property Listing is the Arkansas form of the state brownfield records that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source. The general reading of a brownfields listing is on the Brownfields page. The Brownfield VCP is also a state voluntary cleanup program; the general reading of a voluntary cleanup listing is on the VCP page. The pages read do not say whether the listing marks which projects are voluntary cleanups.
Five Arkansas details shape how to read a listing.
- The cleanup is planned before the sale. The VCP lets a prospective purchaser find the environmental issues and get a cleanup plan approved before buying, then clean up to risk-based standards set for the site's conditions and its intended use. DEQ's page asks applicants to apply before they buy. The steps it lists are a comprehensive site assessment (CSA), defining the reuse and weighing cleanup options, choosing and carrying out the cleanup, and long-term oversight where it is needed.
- The end point is a certificate. After a successful cleanup DEQ issues a Brownfield Certificate of Completion (COC). The certificate gives the new owner liability protection at the state level, and it can pass to later owners once they coordinate with DEQ. Ask whether a COC was issued and whether it was transferred.
- A Phase II is not a CSA. DEQ's certification page says the Arkansas Voluntary Cleanup Act requires a CSA that goes further than a typical Phase II, and that in most cases the limited scope of a Phase II may not be enough to meet it.
- Some sites cannot take part. By statute, the program excludes sites proposed for or on the federal National Priorities List, sites under CERCLA orders or decrees, sites subject to RCRA corrective action, and sites the federal government owns or controls.
- A free assessment may exist. Targeted Brownfield Assessments (TBAs) are free, federally funded investigations for local governments, development organizations, other quasi-governmental bodies and 501(c)(3) nonprofits, done by state contractors and reviewed by DEQ; the requester must get access to the site from its owner. They can include Phase I and Phase II ESAs, Phase II comprehensive site assessments, asbestos and lead-based paint inspections, and cleanup plans. Private entities are not eligible. Ask whether DEQ's file holds a TBA report for the property.
The program's law is the Arkansas Voluntary Cleanup Act, codified at Ark. Code Ann. ยง 8-7-1101 et seq., and its process is set out in the Brownfield Redevelopment Rule, 8 CAR pt. 82.
What the listing shows
DEQ's Brownfield Database page shows the Brownfield Property Listing with each project's AFIN, name and address, county, district and project status. On October 13, 2026 it reported 205 records, and the first page of results showed the statuses Active, Complete, Idle and Withdrawn. The pages read do not define the statuses. The page also links full listings as PDFs (by AFIN, alphabetically, and by city, county, district and status) and a zipped Access copy of the database.
Where to look a site up
- DEQ's Brownfield Database.
- The Arkansas Brownfield Program Viewer, a GIS viewer DEQ's Databases page links, which this handbook did not open.
- DEQ's Office of Land Resources lists the Brownfield Program at 501-682-0616.
Getting the file
DEQ's brownfield page says the assessments, agreements, plans and reports made during the VCP are part of the public record, available during public comment periods and on request under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. Public notice is required when DEQ signs an Implementing Agreement with a participant and when it proposes a cleanup action. DEQ takes FOIA requests by email at EE.FOIA@arkansas.gov; see Records Management and FOIA requests.
Sources
Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown: