Oregon Voluntary Cleanup Program

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) says it created its Voluntary Cleanup Program to provide oversight to property owners and others wishing to investigate and clean up hazardous substance sites in a voluntary, cooperative manner. The program offers two options: the Independent Cleanup Pathway and the traditional Voluntary Cleanup Pathway.

In a Phase I ESA

Voluntary cleanup sites are the Oregon 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. Five Oregon details shape how to read one.

• The pathway says how much DEQ saw. The two pathways differ in oversight, as the table below shows. Find out which one a site used before leaning on its closure.
• The decision is a No Further Action determination. On either pathway DEQ issues a No Further Action (NFA) determination at the end. On the Voluntary Cleanup Pathway it comes once protective conditions have been achieved through remediation, institutional controls or both, so read the determination for controls; see Institutional and Engineering Controls.
• An NFA is not a release from liability. DEQ says an NFA letter does not release a current owner or subsequent purchaser from liability, but indicates that, based on information then available to DEQ, the property has been cleaned up to DEQ's satisfaction. It adds that NFAs may include conditions such as long-term monitoring requirements or land-use restrictions. The agreement that does limit a buyer's liability to DEQ is on the Prospective Purchaser Agreements page.
• Both pathways carry public notice. DEQ issues an Independent Cleanup Pathway NFA after public notice and participation requirements are satisfied, and says the Voluntary Cleanup Pathway process includes a public comment period.
• Enrollment is not completion. Entry is by a Cleanup Program Intake submittal in Your DEQ Online and a deposit. DEQ says Voluntary Cleanup Pathway work can be completed as part of a site development project, as operable units, or based on an annual budget. A site can therefore be worked on in parts and over more than one year. Check which part of a property a decision covers.

DEQ names a third route for cleanups besides these two: Site Response, in which it requires cleanup through orders, and potentially enforcement actions, at high environmental priority sites. The options letter described on the Site Assessment Program page lays the routes out for an owner.

What the record shows

Where to look a site up

• For a list of all cleanup sites on both pathways, DEQ points to the All Sites Report.
• One site at a time, the Your DEQ Online Public Records Portal.
• The Environmental Cleanup Program is at Cleanup.ResolutionCenter@DEQ.oregon.gov and 1-800-452-4011.

Getting the file

Ask for the intake submittal, the work plans and reports, the final report and the No Further Action determination. On the Independent Cleanup Pathway the final report is what DEQ reviewed. The route is described on the Your DEQ Online and public records requests page.

Sources

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality pages, read October 7, 2026, no modified date shown:

• Voluntary Cleanup
• Prospective Purchaser Agreements
• Dry Cleaner Environmental Program
• Site Assessment