Wisconsin
Remediation and Redevelopment Program services and fees
The Remediation and Redevelopment (RR) Program of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reviews reports, writes determination and liability letters, and meets with parties for a fee. The fees are set by ch. NR 749, Wis. Adm. Code, and DNR keeps a printable fee schedule (RR-966). Hourly oversight fees for voluntary party sites are set separately, by ch. NR 750.
In a Phase I ESA
ASTM E1527-21 does not name agency fee schedules among its standard record sources. This page matters for two reasons. The letters DNR sells are records a property may already have: a no further action letter, a no action required letter, a liability clarification letter or an off-site exemption letter. And when a Phase I turns up a question only DNR can answer, these are the routes and prices for asking it.
What DNR provides, and the fee
The amounts below are those DNR's services page listed when read on October 13, 2026; the page gives no date for them. The fee schedule itself was not opened.
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| A no further action determination letter | $350 |
| A no action required determination letter | $700; no fee where no DNR letter is requested |
| A stand-alone meeting with DNR | $700; most fee-paid technical reviews include a meeting |
| An off-site liability exemption determination | $700 |
| A liability clarification letter | $700 |
| Developing a negotiated agreement | $1,400 review fee, under NR 749.04, Table 1(a)(3) |
| A request to modify continuing obligations | $1,050 per request, plus any database fees |
| Extinguishing a deed restriction at a site never listed in DNR's database | $1,050 |
| Database fees | up to $650 per review request |
Technical assistance, such as review of a site investigation work plan or report, a remedial action plan or a closure request, is charged under the same chapter. DNR says database fees can apply at closure and also whenever continuing obligations are imposed, changed or removed. Voluntary Party Liability Exemption sites pay by the hour; for the state's 2027 fiscal year, from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, DNR gives the rate as $130 an hour. Review of a request to build on a historic fill site costs $700; see Development on historic fill sites and licensed landfills.
DNR does not charge these fees for state-lead projects, and usually not for submittals at sites eligible for the Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Fund. Under Wis. Stat. ยง 292.94, it charges for reports and submittals listed in an enforcement conference summary, though not for the conference itself.
DNR's pages read do not define a no further action letter. Its database glossary describes a No Action Required activity as one where a discharge happened or probably happened and DNR decided the responsible party need not investigate or clean up; see BRRTS. Either letter may be asked for when a non-emergency discharge is reported through DNR's online notification form.
How to ask and pay
DNR encourages sending requests through its RR Submittal Portal, and names Form 4400-237 (Technical Assistance, Environmental Liability Clarification or Post-Closure Modification Request) for requests for help with reports and documents, post-closure modifications and meetings. Payment can be by card against an invoice requested from the regional RR program specialist, by electronic funds transfer, or by check mailed with the portal's confirmation page; fees for no further action and no action required letters can be paid in the portal. The specialists are on DNR's RR Program staff contacts page.
Where to look a site up
BRRTS on the Web files liability exemptions, liability clarifications and cleanup agreements as General Property activities, and has a type of its own for No Action Required determinations. The RR Sites Map has layers for liability clarification letters and No Action Required activities. See Liability clarification letters and exemptions.
Getting the file
For a letter that is not online, DNR prefers records requests by email, to DNRRecordsResponse@wisconsin.gov, and accepts them in any format; see Public Records Request.
Sources
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown:
- Remediation & Redevelopment (RR) Program services and fees
- Voluntary cleanup and the Voluntary Party Liability Exemption (VPLE)
- Development on landfills
- RR Program Submittal Portal
- Bureau for Remediation and Redevelopment Tracking System (BRRTS)
- RR Sites Map layer information
- Remediation & Redevelopment (RR) Program staff contacts
- Public Records Request