Ohio
RCRA Corrective Action and Closure
Ohio RCRA corrective action and closure
Cleanup at Ohio's hazardous waste facilities is overseen by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) and generally falls under one of two programs. Closure deals with a hazardous waste management unit once the facility stops generating or receiving waste. Corrective action deals with releases of hazardous waste and hazardous constituents from a facility into soil, ground water, surface water, sediments and air.
In a Phase I ESA
Ohio EPA's records of this work sit beside the federal corrective action records described on the RCRA CORRACTS page. ASTM E1527-21 lists state hazardous waste facility records among its standard sources. This handbook does not pair a single Ohio list with that type; this is one of the Ohio records that bear on it. The distances the standard sets for each kind of record are on the search distances page.
Five details shape how to read a closure or a corrective action.
- Closure is by unit, corrective action is site-wide. Ohio EPA says closures are unit-based, and that hazardous constituents outside the closure unit's boundary may be addressed through corrective action or other state programs. A closed unit is not a cleared facility. Check what the closure covered.
- Closure takes one of two forms. The owner or operator either removes all the waste that has accumulated in the unit, or leaves waste in place and maintains the unit so that it will not pose an unacceptable future threat. Removal is called clean closure, and it requires showing that hazardous contaminant levels do not exceed EPA-recommended exposure levels. Waste left in place means the obligation continues.
- Corrective action usually starts with an order or a permit. Facilities are generally brought in through orders when a release from a waste management unit is identified, or when Ohio EPA is considering the facility's permit application. An owner or operator may also volunteer by entering an agreement with Ohio EPA.
- A remedy can rest on controls. Ohio EPA says corrective action remedies may reach cleanup standards through combinations of removal, treatment, and engineering and institutional controls. See the Institutional and Engineering Controls lists.
- A unit can move from one program to the other. Under a post-closure rule effective in Ohio as of December 7, 2004, a unit undergoing closure can be addressed under corrective action instead. Ohio EPA may exempt the unit from certain closure requirements on the condition that it is brought into corrective action through a permit or order.
Ohio EPA says the hazardous waste rules are in Ohio Administrative Code Chapters 3745-50 through 57, 65 through 69, 205, 256, 266, 270, 273 and 279. The permits and generator records for the same facilities are on the Hazardous Waste page.
Where to look a site up
- The program page links Hazardous Waste Final Actions Issued. Ohio EPA says these actions range from administrative enforcement actions to final decisions on hazardous waste cleanup plans.
- Ohio EPA's Hazardous Waste Permits page lists permitted facilities with their permit documents and permit actions.
- The main line of the Division of Environmental Response and Revitalization is 614-644-2924.
Getting the file
Ohio EPA has no central repository: each division and district office stores its own files. The agency's eDocument search holds orders from January 1, 2007 and remediation reports from September 30, 2014. For other records, use the online file review request form. Ohio EPA says the best first contact is the district office where the facility is located.
Sources
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency pages, read October 7, 2026, no modified date shown: