Mississippi
Voluntary Evaluation Program
The Uncontrolled Site Voluntary Evaluation Program (VEP) of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) "allows accepted parties the opportunity to expedite the evaluation of site information" at an uncontrolled site. MDEQ says the Mississippi Legislature created the Uncontrolled Site Evaluation Trust Fund (Section 17-17-54 of the Mississippi Code), which in turn established the program.
In a Phase I ESA
ASTM E1527-21 lists state voluntary cleanup records as a standard source; the general reading of a voluntary cleanup listing is on the VCP page. MDEQ's page describes this program as expediting the evaluation of site information and does not describe it as a cleanup program, so this handbook does not pair it with that record type. The sites it concerns are MDEQ's uncontrolled sites, which the VEP page describes as sites "where hazardous or toxic wastes have been released into the environment and there is no federal environmental program available."
Three Mississippi details shape how to read it.
- Entry is by application and order. The company must submit an application to be accepted into the program and pay all costs of MDEQ's administration and evaluation of the site. An agreement, an Agreed Administrative Order, is entered into by the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality, MDEQ and the company. If a site took part, ask for the order and for the evaluation that followed.
- Participation is a ranking factor. MDEQ says the program lets its staff prioritize sites more effectively according to actual or potential threat to the public health; actual or potential threat to the environment; whether the site is being considered for economic development; and whether the site is participating in the program.
- The numbers carry no date. The page says MDEQ has records of more than 2,000 sites that need additional evaluation, and that the Assessment/Remediation Branches are working with about 250 sites currently. It gives no date for either number.
Where to look a site up
- The VEP page links only the VEP Application. The pages read name no list of VEP participants.
- The Groundwater Assessment and Remediation Division's page links a spreadsheet, the CERCLA/UCSS File List. This handbook did not open it.
- For more information on uncontrolled sites, MDEQ gives 601-961-5318 or 601-961-5217.
Getting the file
MDEQ's route is a written public records request that names the facility, the city and county where it is located, and the type of information wanted; see Public records requests.
Sources
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality pages, read October 12, 2026, no modified date shown: