Ohio EPA has established its own voluntary cleanup program for addressing hazardous substances and obtaining a legal release from liability- the Voluntary Action Program (VAP). The VAP program has been on the books since 1995.
When the VAP was created its purpose was to allow the private sector to address historical contamination at industrial or
Typically, environmental legislation may be passed in Ohio once every few years. In fact, most environmental regulatory reform is done in small doses during the budget bill process. In the last two weeks, Governor Kasich has signed into law three separate bills that including major environmental regulatory provisions.
With regard to industrial properties and brownfields clean ups, perhaps no issue clean up standard has garnered more attention and increased scrutiny than indoor air. It looks like 2012 could be the year when EPA finally updates its decade old draft guidance.
EPA never finalized its 2002 draft guidance on assessing indoor air risks ("OSWER Draft Guidance for Evaluating the
Last week Senator Schaffer introduced Senate Bill 294– dubbed the EPA reform bill. According to testimony from Senator Schaffer and OEPA Director Scott Nally, the two had been working on the legislation for months.
This bill is the probably the first since Ohio EPA creation that touches on so many different areas of
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The Clean Ohio Council awarded half the available funds for brownfield redevelopment for fiscal year 2012 two weeks ago. As discussed in prior posts, available funding is running out in the next few months.
The future of State brownfield funding became uncertain when the Kasich Administration shifted funding from the state’s liquor profits to JobsOhio.
In Ohio, the clean up program of choice for brownfields and industrial sites currently used is the Voluntary Action Program (VAP). The program is designed to give a tremendous amount of flexibility to property owners and companies in terms of the nature and extent of clean up performed on their property.
Instead of the traditional
One of the issues that can complicate a clean up is if multiple environmental regulatory programs apply to the site. Even the same type of contamination may be required to be addressed under different programs and different processes.
A prime example of this issue in Ohio is the disconnect between Ohio’s Voluntary Action Program (VAP)
In working on brownfield redevelopment projects, I find that addressing old underground storage tanks (USTs) or hazardous waste (RCRA) units can be one of the trickiest issues to address.
Why are these two issues tricky? Because they complicate the clean up process under Ohio’s Voluntary Action Program (VAP).
Due to the flexibility under the
As of July 1st, the Clean Ohio Assistance Fund (COAF) has been injected with new funding. Below is the update recently sent out by the Ohio Department of Development.
I have heard that the 25% set aside for clean up projects has already been accounted for fifteen days into July. Obviously, there must have been projects
The Ohio Department of Development working with the Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA) has released their policies for use of the revamped low interest brownfield loan program. Under the program, private companies (among others) can get a low interest loan up to $500,000 for performing sampling (assessment) and up to $5 million for clean up.
As discussed