Texas Risk Reduction Program (TRRP)

The Texas Risk Reduction Program is the rule that sets cleanup requirements across the remediation programs of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). It is found in 30 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 350. It is not a list of sites. TCEQ says its rules govern the cleanup of most remediation sites in Texas.

In a Phase I ESA

When a Texas record says a site was closed, the next question is which standard it was closed under. TRRP supplies most of the vocabulary.

• Protective concentration levels. TCEQ calls its cleanup numbers protective concentration levels (PCLs). The Tier 1 PCLs are the default cleanup standards in TRRP. A person may instead use Tier 2 PCLs, which are calculated with site-specific inputs.
• The tables change. TCEQ's current Tier 1 soil and groundwater tables are dated February 2025, and it keeps the older tables available. Because the tables are revised, an older closure may have been measured against an earlier table.
• Not every release is under TRRP. TCEQ publishes a screening procedure for deciding whether a release is subject to the rule. A person has 60 days from discovering the release to report the result: choose TRRP without screening, show the release passed the screen and is not subject to TRRP, or report that it failed and is subject to TRRP.
• Older sites used older rules. At industrial and hazardous waste facilities, cleanup goals come from the 1993 Risk Reduction Standards or from TRRP, depending on the date of initial notification.
• Tank releases may be under either rule. TCEQ says the storage tank rules govern the cleanup of releases from petroleum storage tanks. Its glossary for Leaking Petroleum Storage Tank cases also lists TRRP documents, so check which rule a tank case was closed under.
• Spills start from a different goal. TCEQ says the objective of a spill cleanup is to return the site to pre-spill or background conditions. If the cleanup will take no more than 180 days, the responsible party may elect to clean up under TRRP instead, after an affected property assessment and a report (an APAR) approved by the TCEQ regional office.

Dates worth knowing

TCEQ gives these dates for the rule: published in the Texas Register on September 17, 1999; effective September 23, 1999; revised effective March 19, 2007, March 19, 2009, and February 6, 2025.

Since July 1, 2008, TCEQ accepts analytical data for a remediation decision only from a laboratory accredited under its environmental laboratory accreditation program, with stated exceptions. Data generated on or before June 30, 2008 are accepted without that accreditation.

Where the programs use it

TCEQ lists the TRRP rule with the legal authority of the Voluntary Cleanup Program, and gives it as the current cleanup standard for Industrial and Hazardous Waste Corrective Action. A Municipal Setting Designation is tied to it as well: a designation is granted where groundwater exceeds the potable-water protective concentration level.

Where to read the rule and the numbers

• Texas Risk Reduction Program, with links to the rule, guidance and forms.
• TRRP Protective Concentration Levels, with the current and older Tier 1 tables and the Tier 2 equations.

Sources

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality pages, read September 30, 2026:

• Texas Risk Reduction Program, last modified March 11, 2026.
• TRRP Protective Concentration Levels, last modified February 2, 2026.
• My Site Might be Contaminated. What Do I Do?, last modified February 23, 2026.
• Cleanups and Closures at Non-Permitted Facilities, last modified March 19, 2026.
• Applying for the Brownfields Assessment Program, last modified August 12, 2026.
• Spills: Cleanup and Waste Management, last modified May 20, 2026.
• Correspondence Look Up Table, last modified March 14, 2023.
• Voluntary Cleanup Program, last modified March 24, 2026.
• Industrial and Hazardous Waste Corrective Action Program, last modified July 13, 2026.
• Remediation Program Descriptions, last modified July 17, 2026.