Georgia Hazardous Waste Trust Fund (HWTF)

The Hazardous Waste Trust Fund (HWTF) is the state fund the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) uses to pay for the cleanup of some contaminated sites. EPD says the fund is also called the State Superfund. It pays for three things: EPD's own work on hazardous sites, reimbursements to local governments for landfills, and the cleanup of abandoned sites.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name a state cleanup fund among its standard record sources. The fund is worth knowing because of what a state-paid cleanup leaves behind.

• A state-paid cleanup usually brings a lien. EPD says the bulk of the fund pays for the investigation and cleanup of abandoned sites by state contractors. These include Hazardous Site Inventory sites with no responsible parties to perform the cleanup, and sites where the responsible parties cannot or will not do the work. They also include emergency removal actions such as disposal of abandoned drums. EPD says a lien is typically filed on the property for cost recovery, and that it will negotiate those liens with innocent purchasers. Where the record shows state-funded work, check the title and lien search for an EPD lien.
• Abandoned sites on the inventory have their own unit. EPD's Abandoned Sites Unit cleans up sites with the fund when responsible parties are unwilling or unable, manages the state's hazardous site response contractors, and maintains abandoned sites on the Hazardous Site Inventory. It also works with EPD's Emergency Response to remove abandoned regulated substances quickly.
• An old landfill may be an inventory site. The fund reimburses local governments for the investigation and cleanup of leaking landfills that they own or operate, or once did. Only landfills on the Hazardous Site Inventory are eligible, and they may be permitted or unpermitted. For a city or county landfill, check the inventory as well as the Regulated Solid Waste Facilities list.

What the fund pays for

EPD's hazardous site work. The fund pays certain EPD operating costs, mainly in the Response and Remediation Program. With it, EPD says it discovers and evaluates hazardous sites, publishes them on the inventory, and works with the entities that caused the contamination to clean the sites up. That covers the review of release notifications and the oversight of inventory sites and of sites enrolled in the Voluntary Remediation Program. EPD says the fund pays for approximately forty staff.

Local government landfills. By statute, EPD sets aside part of the fees collected for local government landfill costs. EPD gives these terms:

• typically 100 percent of the first $500,000 of eligible costs, then 50 percent, with a lifetime cap of $2 million per site;
• approximately $5 million available each year as of 2024, expected to stay at that amount through fiscal year 2033;
• for an unpermitted landfill on the inventory, nearly all investigation and cleanup costs are eligible;
• for a permitted landfill, standard permit costs such as routine monitoring, closure and post-closure care are not covered. If routine monitoring detects contamination statistically above regulatory thresholds and EPD lists the site, the fund can pay to investigate and clean up that contamination.

Limited funds are also available to a local government that EPD has designated a responsible party at a landfill it did not own or operate.

Abandoned sites. Described above.

Where to look a site up

• EPD publishes a yearly report on the fund. Its Hazardous Waste Trust Fund page links the reports for fiscal years 2020 through 2023 and 2025.
• The abandoned sites EPD maintains on the inventory are found through the Hazardous Site Inventory. The pages read do not link a separate list of state-funded cleanups or of liens.
• The Response and Remediation Program is at 404.657.8600.

Getting the file

File reviews at EPD's downtown office are by appointment, requested by email at the address on its Land Branch Open Records Requests page. If files must come from the records center, EPD asks for 7 to 10 days. Requests under the Georgia Open Records Act go through EPD's Open Records Request Portal.

Sources

Georgia Environmental Protection Division pages, read October 7, 2026:

• Hazardous Waste Trust Fund, last modified February 11, 2025.
• Hazardous Waste, last modified September 1, 2026.
• Local Govt LF Cleanup Reimbursement, last modified January 17, 2025.
• LPB Program and Units, last modified June 30, 2026.
• Land Branch Open Records Requests, last modified July 29, 2026.
• File Review Procedures, last modified May 20, 2021.