Hazardous Waste Cleanup Program (HWCP)

The Hazardous Waste Cleanup Program (HWCP) belongs to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ's) Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control (DWMRC). It oversees investigations and cleanups where soil, groundwater, surface water or air is contaminated, both at permitted hazardous waste sites and at sites in DWMRC's Environmental Cleanup Program (ECP). It works under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). DWMRC says the program also assists other programs with five things: cleaning up spills, remediating hazardous waste sites, closing units such as landfills, making contained-out determinations, and real estate actions, which it handles through comfort letters and Enforceable Written Assurances.

In a Phase I ESA

This is DWMRC's program for cleanups at hazardous waste sites. It sits beside the federal corrective action records described on the RCRA CORRACTS page. ASTM E1527-21 lists state hazardous waste facility records among its standard sources; the permitted facilities are on the Hazardous Waste Facilities Permits page.

Four parts of the program bear on a property transaction.

• The Environmental Cleanup Program. DWMRC describes the ECP as a voluntary route, open to interested parties, for investigating, cleaning up and managing over the long term property affected by past or present hazardous waste operations. The application asks for the current and planned land use, the kinds of contamination if known, whether a clean closure is wanted or a site management plan and environmental covenant would be acceptable, and earlier investigations and data, a Phase I or II ESA among them. There is no application fee; DWMRC bills its oversight by the hour at rates set by the Legislature.
• How an ECP site closes. After the closure risk assessment, DWMRC issues one of two determinations: Corrective Action Complete With Controls (CACWC), or Corrective Action Complete Without Controls (CACWOC). A CACWC closure needs a Site Management Plan and an Environmental Covenant. Read which of the two a closed site received.
• Comfort letters. For a buyer or lender who has found contamination through due diligence, DWMRC's Director can issue a comfort letter saying that, on the information given, the Director does not now plan enforcement or a permit requirement over that contamination. The Director keeps sole discretion and the authority to act later, the letter creates no legal rights, and the applicant must commit to follow any institutional controls on the property. DWMRC says all appropriate inquiries, environmental site assessments included, cannot be transferred, and that the name an ESA was prepared for must match the name on the comfort letter application. DWMRC's page also has a sentence on whether permittees and parties responsible for the contamination can get one, but it is printed with a double negative, so its meaning is unclear as printed. The application fee DWMRC gives is $1,000.
• Contained-out determinations. DWMRC can decide that soil contaminated with hazardous waste may go to a lined RCRA Subtitle D landfill as nonhazardous waste. The soil must show no hazardous waste characteristic, meet land disposal restrictions and, if it holds a listed waste, meet DWMRC's risk targets for workers. The landfill still decides whether to take it.

At permitted treatment, storage and disposal facilities, DWMRC describes RCRA corrective action in steps: a facility assessment, a facility investigation, a corrective measures study, any interim measures, implementation of the chosen remedy, and closure or post-closure care. Its rules for these sites are Utah Administrative Code R315-101, 264 to 268 and 270.

Where to look a site up

• DWMRC links a list that it says is of sites under long-term administrative or engineering controls. This handbook did not open it.
• On DEQ's Interactive Map, DWMRC says to choose the Waste Management and Radiation Control tab and then the hazardous waste and used oil tab to see its sites statewide, or to use the advanced search by zip code, address or site name.
• DWMRC's Hazardous Waste Facilities Permits page also lists other HWCP sites.
• The program's line is (801) 536-0200.

Getting the file

DWMRC takes records requests on DEQ's GRAMA request form at wmrcgrama@utah.gov or (801) 536-0200. It says it does not usually file records by address, coordinates or parcel number, and asks for details such as the facility name, EPA ID number, or the operator's or permittee's name. The routes are on the GRAMA requests page.

Sources

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

• Hazardous Waste Cleanup Program, last modified April 16, 2026.
• Hazardous Waste Facilities Permits, last modified April 16, 2026.
• Environmental Quality Records Request (GRAMA), last modified April 21, 2026.