West Virginia
Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP)
West Virginia Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP)
West Virginia's voluntary cleanup program is the Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP) of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), administered by its Office of Environmental Remediation (OER). It was established in 1996 through the Voluntary Remediation and Redevelopment Act, W. Va. Code § 22-22. WVDEP gives the purpose in these words: "to encourage voluntary cleanup and redevelopment of abandoned or under-utilized contaminated properties by providing certain environmental liability protections under West Virginia law." The administrative process is in the Voluntary Remediation and Redevelopment Rule, 60CSR3.
In a Phase I ESA
VRP sites are the West Virginia form of the state voluntary cleanup records that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source. The general reading of a voluntary cleanup listing is on the VCP page. Five West Virginia details shape how to read one.
- The end document is a Certificate of Completion. WVDEP says the certificate contains a provision relieving the person who undertook the remediation, and subsequent successors and assigns, from all liability to the state. Check whether the site has one before treating it as finished. WVDEP says notifications are published when an application is received and when a cleanup method is approved, so a site's first public notice comes before any certificate.
- The protection has a condition. WVDEP says the liability protection remains effective as long as the property complies with the applicable standards in effect at the time the certificate was issued.
- Expect a land use restriction. VRP cleanups use risk-based standards that consider site-specific conditions and future land use, and WVDEP lists land use restrictions as anticipated in the program. Land use covenants are routinely placed on properties that complete it. See Land Use Covenants.
- The program covers the property's whole history. WVDEP says the VRP addresses all contamination associated with historical use of the property. That is its contrast with the UECA-LUST Program, which addresses only a tank release.
- A licensed specialist writes the reports. A Licensed Remediation Specialist (LRS), licensed by WVDEP and hired by the applicant, supervises all remediation activities and prepares the required reports for OER's approval. WVDEP says the LRS must be completely objective and represents the interests of the public as well as supervising the work.
WVDEP lists among the program's steps an environmental site assessment, a risk assessment, the selection and implementation of a remedy, and long-term oversight where necessary. A cleanup paid for by a loan from WVDEP's Brownfields Revolving Fund must be enrolled in the VRP unless it is limited to asbestos or lead-based paint abatement.
The standards a cleanup is measured against
OER's Technical Guidance and Templates page links the VRP Guidance Manual, a Checklist to Determine Applicable Standards, a De Minimis Standards Table and a workbook titled De Minimis and Relevant Benchmarks. The page says nothing more about them than their titles. OER's News and Updates page sends questions about the development or use of the De Minimis Standards to the OER Environmental Toxicologist. This handbook carries no values from those workbooks.
Where to look a site up
- WVDEP posts a Public Record of Voluntary Remediation Program Sites on its Voluntary Remediation Program page.
- OER's News and Updates page carries a list headed 2025 Voluntary Remediation Program Certificates of Completion.
- General questions go to DEPVRP@wv.gov or 304-926-0499.
Getting the file
WVDEP says all site information in the program is made available to the public. OER's pages link the agency's Request Information page for a Freedom of Information Act request, which can also be emailed to depfoia@wv.gov. WVDEP's document database is Application Enhancer. See the Application Enhancer page.
Sources
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection pages, read October 7, 2026, no modified date shown: