North Carolina

Federal Remediation Branch

Agency North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality

The Federal Remediation Branch of the Superfund Section, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), works with EPA, and with the Department of Defense (DOD) where that fits, to investigate, assess and clean up sites where uncontrolled and unregulated hazardous wastes have been released or may be. DEQ says sites go onto EPA's CERCLA inventory (CERCLIS) once found and are assessed for their relative risk. Branch staff investigate and sample them and score them with EPA's Hazard Ranking System, which screens sites for the National Priorities List (NPL). From that assessment the Branch refers some sites to EPA for emergency action and others to the Inactive Hazardous Sites Program for cleanup.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 names the federal Superfund lists among its standard sources. Their general reading is on the NPL page and the SEMS page. This page is about DEQ's part in those cleanups and where its records are.

The state's share. For the small share of assessed sites that qualify for the NPL or are judged of NPL caliber, the Branch oversees EPA's cleanup and gives technical guidance. DEQ's page says that when the federal trust fund pays, CERCLA requires the state to give assurances, among them paying 10 percent of remedial action costs and all of certain kinds of operation and maintenance. The Branch runs operation and maintenance at NPL sites that EPA hands back to the state after the NPL cleanup is finished. For an NPL site whose cleanup is complete, ask DEQ as well as EPA.
Defense sites. The Branch works with DOD on sites at military installations and on Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS). DOD pays for long-term cleanup at these sites through the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP), and a Department of Defense and State Memorandum of Agreement lists the eligible DERP sites in the state and governs their cleanup.
Not every file is online. DEQ's Superfund File Records page says CERCLA site assessment reports and letters, older NPL site documents, and documents received recently, generally in the last 30 days, may not be in the online document system.
No brownfields agreement. DEQ's brownfields FAQ says NPL sites are the one kind of site the state statute bars from a brownfields agreement.

Where to look a site up

The pages read link no list of the Branch's sites. DWM's Site Locator Tool shows Superfund sites with the division's other sites.
DEQ's Division of Waste Management takes general inquiries at 919-707-8200.

Getting the file

For paper files, DEQ's Superfund File Records page points to DWM's file room page, which says the Superfund Section File Room takes requests by letter, phone or email, at Mail Service Center 1646, Raleigh, NC 27699-1646, and shows files only by appointment. DEQ's online request form is the department's general route; see Requesting Public Records. The pages read do not say how to ask EPA or DOD for their records.

Sources

North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown: