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Utah

Environmental incidents and the Spills Database

Agency Utah Department of Environmental Quality

The Division of Environmental Response and Remediation (DERR) of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) runs the department-wide system for reporting environmental incidents, including a 24-hour line at (801) 536-4123, and coordinates the response with the other agencies involved. DERR says its staff are not first responders; they serve as technical and regulatory advisors. DEQ's Spills Database, which DERR's site assessment page calls the Environmental Incidents Database, is open to the public, and DERR's division page says it can be searched by county, chemical, date or location for reported spills and releases.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name state spill lists among its standard record sources. The federal counterpart of a state spill list is the emergency response record described on the ERNS page. A Utah spill report still matters, because it can be the only state record of a release that never became a cleanup case.

Two Utah details shape the search.

  • Routine reports go to the divisions. DEQ asks that major incidents be called in to the 24-hour line, and that routine incidents be reported during business hours straight to the division concerned. The Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control takes hazardous waste spills and radiological materials, at (801) 536-0200; DERR takes petroleum releases from an underground tank facility, at (801) 536-4100 (see the Leaking Petroleum Storage Tanks (LPST) Program); the Division of Water Quality takes releases that may affect waters of the state, at (801) 536-4300; and the Division of Drinking Water takes drinking water events, at (801) 536-4200. The pages read do not say whether a report made to a division reaches the Spills Database, so ask that division too.
  • Who must report, and when. DEQ says regulated industry, permitted facilities, waste transporters and others must report spills and other incidents within time frames set by federal or state law, which vary with the kind of incident. Some incidents also have to be reported to the National Response Center at (800) 424-8802. DEQ links a summary of DEQ and EPA release reporting requirements, which this handbook did not open.

Where to look a site up

Getting the file

The pages read do not say which division keeps the file on a reported incident. DERR runs the reporting system, and takes records requests on DEQ's GRAMA request form at errgrama@utah.gov or (801) 536-4157. The other divisions' routes are on the GRAMA requests page.

Sources

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

Maintained by Barrow. General reference only, not legal or professional advice. Barrow is not affiliated with any government agency, and neither Barrow nor the information as presented here is endorsed by any state or government agency. See how Barrow drafts the report