Beneficial Use Program

The Beneficial Use Program of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA), in its Division of Materials and Waste Management (DMWM), promotes diverting wastes from landfill disposal in a way that protects public health, safety and the environment. Ohio EPA names land application for agronomic benefit, soil blending and structural fill as common beneficial uses. Its rules, Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 3745-599, cover foundry sands, drinking water treatment materials, dredged material from federal navigational channels in Lake Erie, sewage sludge (biosolids) incinerator ash, and waste materials burned for energy recovery.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name beneficial use records among its standard record sources. They bear on fill. Ohio EPA counts 865,044 tons beneficially used in 2025, of which 307,646 tons went to engineered fill. Where a property was filled or regraded, ask what the fill was and whether it came under a beneficial use permit. Four details shape the answer.

• General permits are not site-specific. Ohio EPA says a general permit authorizes storage and beneficial use at locations where best management practices are satisfied, that coverage is sought with a Notice of Intent, and that general permits carry common conditions, among them sampling and analysis procedures, material quality standards, recordkeeping and annual reporting. Ohio EPA posts two general permits for foundry sand, one for structural fill and one for soil blend. Ask the owner, or whoever supplied the material, for the records the permit required.
• Individual permits are case by case. Ohio EPA says an individual permit can be sought when no general permit covers the intended use or the material does not meet a general permit's constituent standards, and that it reviews each one case by case. For a waste not on the rules' list, Ohio EPA points to a Land Application Management Plan (LAMP) form or an Integrated Alternative Waste Management Project (IAWMP) request.
• Some uses need no permit. Ohio EPA says that when the materials its rules cover are used as an ingredient in certain construction materials, such as cement or asphalt concrete, no permit is needed because the use is approved by rule, and that waste materials used as a fuel or ingredient in a combustion unit need none either.
• Dredge can be used as soil. Ohio EPA issues Harbor Sediment Authorizations after a risk-based screening evaluation finds that dewatered dredge can safely replace soil. It says that once dewatered, such dredge is no longer a solid waste or another waste.

Beneficial use of scrap tires is on the Scrap Tires page.

What the record shows

Permits carry an annual report. Ohio EPA says all Beneficial Use permits, LAMP permits and IAWMP permits require an annual report of the previous calendar year's beneficial use and land application, due April 1 for Beneficial Use permits or as the LAMP permit or IAWMP sets out.

Ohio EPA's figures for 2025 by end use:

The same page counts 148 beneficial use permits active in 2025: 29 with the Central Office, 43 with the Northeast District Office, 31 with the Northwest, 10 with the Southeast, 33 with the Southwest, and 2 out of state.

Where to look a site up

• The pages read link no list of beneficial use sites or permit holders. DMWM's Issued Actions/Permits list includes rows described as Individual Beneficial Use Permit, Foundry Sand General Permit, Drinking Water Treatment Material General Permit, Land Application Management Plan Permit Approval and Harbor Sediment Authorization, each linked to its document; see DMWM Issued Actions/Permits.
• The general permits themselves are on Ohio EPA's Beneficial Use General Permits page.
• The program's page is Beneficial Use. DMWM's main line is 614-644-2621.

Getting the file

The pages read do not say where beneficial use files are kept. Ohio EPA has no central repository for all its records: each division and district office stores its own files. Many records are in the agency's eDocument search. For others, use the online file review request form; Ohio EPA says the best first contact for a file review is the district office where the facility or site is located. See Access Public Records.

Sources

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency pages, read October 15, 2026, no modified date shown:

• Beneficial Use
• Beneficial Use General Permits
• Issued Actions/Permits (the page shows the date October 6, 2026, without saying what the date is)
• DMWM eServices (read October 7, 2026)
• eDocument Search (read October 7, 2026)
• Access Public Records (read October 14, 2026)