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Arkansas

Elective Site Cleanup Agreement (ESCA) Program

Agency Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality
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The Elective Site Cleanup Agreement (ESCA) Program of the Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ) lets the responsible parties for a contaminated site clean it up voluntarily, under the authority of the Hazardous Waste Management Act, the Remedial Action Trust Fund Act and Regulation 23 of the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission. DEQ says the program gives no release of liability. What it offers is a way to deal with historic contamination at a site without a penalty and against objectives known in advance.

In a Phase I ESA

ESCA sites are an Arkansas form of the state voluntary cleanup records that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source. The general reading of a voluntary cleanup listing is on the VCP page. Arkansas's other voluntary route, the Brownfield Voluntary Cleanup Program, is described on the Brownfield Program page; DEQ's pages describe that one as letting a prospective purchaser plan a cleanup before buying, and this one as a way for responsible parties to clean up.

Four Arkansas details shape how to read an ESCA listing.

  • Entry is by agreement. Site owners willing to sign an agreement with DEQ and keep to its terms are eligible. A site enters by a letter to DEQ's Hazardous Waste Enforcement Section asking to join. DEQ drafts the agreement, and it takes effect once the participant and the DEQ director have both signed it.
  • The end point is a No Further Action letter. When the participant has met the agreement's terms, DEQ issues a No Further Action letter saying nothing more is required for investigating hazardous substances in the identified areas of concern at the site. Compare those areas with the property in front of you.
  • Restrictions may follow. DEQ says that, depending on how far the cleanup went, a participant may have to limit the use of the site or of its groundwater through land-use controls or deed restrictions. The pages read name no registry of such controls. Ask whether the file holds a deed restriction or other land-use control for the site.
  • Plans and reports may be required. DEQ lists a Sampling and Analysis Plan (SAP), a Remedial Activities Plan (RAP) and a Completion Report among the possible requirements. Ask whether the file holds them.

What the listing shows

DEQ's Elective Site Cleanup Agreement Database page lists each project's AFIN, name and address, county, district and project status, and each AFIN links a PDF for the project. On October 13, 2026 it reported 40 records, and the first page of results showed the statuses Active, Complete and RATFA. The pages read do not define the statuses; RATFA is also the short name of the Remedial Action Trust Fund Act (see RATFA State Priority List (SPL)). The program page also links full listings as PDFs, by AFIN, alphabetically, and by city, county, district and status.

Where to look a site up

Getting the file

DEQ takes Freedom of Information Act requests by email at EE.FOIA@arkansas.gov, and its Records Management Section arranges visits to review files. See Records Management and FOIA requests.

Sources

Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown:

Maintained by Barrow. General reference only, not legal or professional advice. Barrow is not affiliated with any government agency, and neither Barrow nor the information as presented here is endorsed by any state or government agency. See how Barrow drafts the report