Ohio
Voluntary Action Program (VAP)
Ohio Voluntary Action Program (VAP)
Ohio's voluntary cleanup program is the Voluntary Action Program (VAP) of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA). A volunteer investigates a property and, if necessary, cleans it up to standards Ohio EPA has developed, using a certified professional. When the requirements are met, the director of Ohio EPA issues a covenant not to sue (CNS), which protects the owner or operator and future owners from being legally responsible to the State of Ohio for further investigation and cleanup.
In a Phase I ESA
VAP properties are the Ohio form of the state voluntary cleanup records that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source. The general reading of a voluntary cleanup listing is on the VCP page. Four Ohio details shape how to read one.
- A property can be in the program with no agency record. Ohio EPA calls the VAP privatized. A volunteer does not have to notify Ohio EPA until a certified professional has completed the no further action (NFA) letter and the volunteer has decided whether to seek a covenant. A property that is missing from the VAP lists may still have VAP work under way, so ask the owner.
- An NFA letter is not a covenant. The NFA letter is the certified professional's document, and Ohio EPA reviews it to decide whether to issue a CNS. Check which of the two the property has. Ohio EPA must also audit at least 25% of the NFA letters issued in the previous calendar year (Ohio Revised Code 3746.17(B)).
- The covenant has conditions. Ohio EPA says the protection applies only when the property is used and maintained in the same manner as when the covenant was issued. A property with use restrictions owes Ohio EPA an annual compliance report, and one with an operation and maintenance plan or a risk mitigation plan must report on it. Written notice of a sale or transfer of any part of a covered property is due within 14 days. See the Institutional and Engineering Controls lists.
- There are two tracks. Under a memorandum of agreement between U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA, a volunteer on the MOA Track follows the usual VAP procedures and adds steps: notice of entry into the program, agency approval of certain documents and work plans, and more public involvement. Ohio EPA says the MOA Track provides written assurance from U.S. EPA that it will not pursue additional cleanup activity.
Since 1995 the VAP has issued over 500 covenants. Petroleum releases from underground storage tanks that the Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations (BUSTR) has designated Class C or Class D can also be addressed under VAP rules; see underground storage tank releases. A property that Ohio EPA has prioritized and that has no covenant is typically handled by the Remedial Response Program.
Where to look a site up
- Ohio EPA's Voluntary Action Program Properties Map shows VAP properties. Ohio EPA says its USD and CNS Site Summaries, which summarize covenants and urban setting designations (USDs), cover historical use, types of contamination, applicable standards, remedies or land use restrictions, any state cleanup funds received and redevelopment plans. Ohio EPA notes that the summaries do not supersede the NFA letters and covenants on file.
- The Voluntary Action Program page posts a spreadsheet titled Complete NFA Summary with current status and a listing of MOA Track sites. The Database Request page posts a List of all VAP Sites.
- The VAP is at 614-644-2285.
Getting the file
After a covenant is issued, the certified professional must give Ohio EPA electronic copies of all the supporting documents and affidavits relied on for the NFA letter (Ohio Administrative Code 3745-300-13(M)). Ask for those documents, not only the covenant. The agency's eDocument search has a Covenant document type that runs from September 30, 2014. For anything else, use the online file review request form; Ohio EPA says the best first contact is the district office where the site is located.
Sources
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency pages, read October 7, 2026, no modified date shown: