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California Environmental Protection Agency <br /> Department of Toxic Substances Control <br /> a / <br /> The Voluntary Cleanup Program <br /> The California Environmental Protection Agencys Department of Toxic Substances Control <br /> (DTSC) has introduced a streamlined program to protect human health, cleanup the environment and <br /> get property back to productive use. Corporations, real estate developers, and local and state agencies <br /> entering into Voluntary Cleanup Program agreements will be able to restore properties quickly and <br /> efficiently, rather than having their projects compete for DTSC's limited resources with other low- <br /> priority hazardous waste sites. This fact sheet describes how the Voluntary Cleanup Program works. <br /> Prior to initiation of the Voluntary Cleanup Program, project proponents had few options for DTSC <br /> involvement in cleaning up low-risk sites. DTSCs statutory mandate is to identify, prioritize, manage <br /> and cleanup sites where releases of hazardous substances have occurred. For years, the mandate meant <br /> that, if the site presented grave threat to public health or the environment, then it was listed on the State <br /> Superfund list and the parties responsible conducted the cleanup under an enforcement order, or DTSC <br /> used state funds to do so. Because of staff resource limitations, DTSC was unable to provide oversight <br /> at sites which posed lesser risk or had lower priority. <br /> DTSC long ago recognized that no ones interests are served by leaving sites contaminated and <br /> unusable. The Voluntary Cleanup Program allows motivated parties who are able to fund the cleanup - <br /> - and DTSCs oversight— to move ahead at their own speed to investigate and remediate their sites. <br /> DTSC has found that working cooperatively with willing and able project proponents is a more efficient <br /> and cost-effective approach to site investigation and cleanup. There are four steps to this process: <br /> d Eligibility and Application <br /> d Negotiating the Agreement <br /> d Site Activities <br /> d Certification and Property Restoration <br /> The rest of this fact sheet describes those steps and gives DTSC contacts. <br /> Jwy 1995 <br />