West Virginia UECA-LUST Program

The Uniform Environmental Covenants Act-Leaking Underground Storage Tank (UECA-LUST) Program is what the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) calls an alternative remediation option for releases from underground storage tanks. Leaking tank sites are traditionally cleaned up through enforcement until soils and groundwater meet established cleanup standards. In this program an applicant may instead remediate to risk-based standards, using engineering and institutional controls such as covers, caps and land use restrictions, under the Uniform Environmental Covenants Act, W. Va. Code § 22-22B. WVDEP's Office of Environmental Remediation (OER) manages the program.

In a Phase I ESA

A UECA-LUST site is a leaking underground storage tank site remediated outside the traditional enforcement path, so it belongs with the state leaking storage tank records that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source. The general reading of a leaking tank listing is on the LUST page. Four details shape how to read one.

• The letter is not the certificate. When risk-based remediation is complete, the tank owner receives a "No Further Action" (NFA) letter. WVDEP says it indicates that response requirements have been fulfilled and satisfactory remediation of the release has been achieved. WVDEP contrasts it with the Certificate of Completion of the Voluntary Remediation Program, which contains a provision relieving the person who did the remediation, and successors and assigns, from all liability to the state.
• Only the tank release is covered. WVDEP says remediation through the program addresses only contamination associated with the release from the underground storage tank. Other contamination from the property's past uses is outside it.
• A covenant comes with it. WVDEP says a land use covenant restricting certain future property uses will be required to control the risks and exposures, and that property owners, whether or not they own the tank, must agree to any potential property use restrictions. Read the covenant with the letter. See Land Use Covenants.
• WVDEP says it suits complicated sites. Any leaking underground storage tank site may enter, but WVDEP says the program "is most beneficial for more complicated sites that may have free product, extensive or deep soil contamination, groundwater contamination, or vapor intrusion impacts."

Three routes for one leak

WVDEP compares the three programs through which a leak from a regulated underground storage tank may be remediated:

The traditional route is on the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Program page.

What the file can hold

OER's templates show the paper a site generates: a notice of intent to enter the program, a UECA-LUST agreement and an agreement modification, a public notice, a land use covenant, and a land use covenant inspection form.

Where to look a site up

• WVDEP posts a UECA-LUST Sites List on its UECA-LUST Program page.
• WVDEP's AST/UST public report portal is where it says to obtain a list of all LUST cases. The pages read do not say whether sites in this program appear in it, so look there as well.

Getting the file

The UECA-LUST page names no records route of its own. It links contacts for OER and for the Environmental Enforcement Tanks Unit, and OER's main page links the agency's Request Information page for a Freedom of Information Act request, which can also be emailed to depfoia@wv.gov. See the Application Enhancer page.

Sources

West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection pages, read October 7, 2026, no modified date shown:

• UECA-LUST Program
• Leaking Underground Storage Tanks
• Technical Guidance and Templates (read October 6, 2026)
• Office of Environmental Remediation
• Request Information