Enforceable Written Assurances (EWA)

An Enforceable Written Assurance (EWA) is a promise in writing, from an official of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), about enforcement at a property. Two DEQ officials issue them, under different laws. DEQ's Executive Director issues one to a bona fide prospective purchaser (BFPP), through a program the Division of Environmental Response and Remediation (DERR) runs and DEQ calls a brownfields tool. The Director of DEQ's Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control (DWMRC) issues another for a site under a RCRA Part B permit.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name assurance letters among its standard record sources. An EWA bears on a Phase I because of who can get one and when. DERR's EWA is for a bona fide prospective purchaser. DWMRC, in the comfort letter section of its Hazardous Waste Cleanup Program page, lists all appropriate inquiries under 40 CFR Part 312 among the criteria for that status, and DERR's EWA page links an AAI checklist and EPA's All Appropriate Inquiries page. Both divisions want the application before the buyer acquires its interest.

DERR's EWA

• The law. DERR says the BFPP term is defined in CERCLA, the federal Superfund law, and is carried into Utah's Hazardous Substances Mitigation Act (HSMA). DEQ will not bring an HSMA enforcement action against the holder of an EWA for as long as the holder keeps meeting the ongoing obligations that come with it. The requirements are in Utah Administrative Code R311-600.
• Apply before closing. DERR will not evaluate an application once the applicant has acquired an interest in the property, so it asks that the application go in well ahead of the closing, title transfer or lease.
• The application. It goes, with a fee whose amount the page does not give, to DERR's Brownfields/VCP Program Coordinator. DERR offers pre-application meetings to talk through the process and current review times. The page links an EWA checklist, a fact sheet on common issues, and the application form for a bona fide prospective purchaser.

DWMRC's EWA

• Which sites. DWMRC's EWA concerns a site subject to a RCRA Part B permit. DWMRC says to check its permits page to see whether a site is one; see Hazardous Waste Facilities Permits.
• The conditions. DWMRC says its Director may issue one when the applicant is not a permittee under the operation plan and will not face enforcement for contamination already present or violations that came before it acquired its interest. The Director's discretion is governed by Utah Code 19-6-108.3.
• Before purchase only. DWMRC says an EWA must be asked for before the property is bought, and that the flexibility its Director has to give a comfort letter to someone who has already bought does not extend to EWAs. Comfort letters are on the Hazardous Waste Cleanup Program (HWCP) page.
• The fee. DWMRC's page gives the EWA application fee as $500.

Where to look a site up

• The pages read link no list of EWAs issued.
• DERR's VCP/Brownfields Program Coordinator is at (801) 536-4100. DWMRC is at (801) 536-0200.

Getting the file

DERR takes records requests on DEQ's GRAMA request form at errgrama@utah.gov or (801) 536-4157. DWMRC takes them at wmrcgrama@utah.gov or (801) 536-0200, and asks a request to give details such as the facility name, the EPA ID number or the permittee's name, since it does not usually file records by address. The routes are on the GRAMA requests page.

Sources

Utah Department of Environmental Quality pages, read October 13, 2026:

• Enforceable Written Assurance: Voluntary Cleanup Program, last modified April 22, 2026.
• Hazardous Waste Cleanup Program, last modified April 16, 2026.
• CERCLA Branch, last modified September 8, 2026.
• Environmental Quality Records Request (GRAMA), last modified April 21, 2026.