Brownfields_Content Page_Resources for environmental professionals

Resources for environmental professionals

COVID-19 Update

As we continue operations under Gov. Evers's COVID-19 Safer at Home order, please understand that most DNR staff are teleworking and may have limited access to files and delayed online connectivity. Additionally, all non-essential travel is prohibited. We strongly encourage customers to communicate with their DNR project manager via email.

Submit Electronically

Customers are strongly encouraged to submit documents via the online Submittal Portal. DNR is temporarily suspending the requirement to submit one paper copy of each plan or report under Wis. Admin. Code § NR 700.11(3g), including hard copies of case closure packets.

Fee-based Submittals – Potential Delay

Checks should still be mailed to DNR offices for fee-based submittals; however, staff will only be processing mail one to two times per week. Please be aware that there may be a delay in processing technical assistance fees. If you have a time-critical issue, please contact your DNR project manager.

Compliance with Wis. Admin. Code ch. NR 712

Professional Engineers are permitted to certify reports using a digital or electronic signature and P.E. stamp for any submittal subject to Wis. Admin. Code ch. 712 requirements. Hydrogeologists, professional geologists and scientists may certify using a digital or electronic signature for NR 712 submittals. (See Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(7), Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(7) and Wis. Stat. § 137.15)

The soil calculator and other related information and guidance documents have been moved to the new Contaminated soil and sediment web page.

Environmental consultants at workEnvironmental consultants at work.

The resources on this page are intended for environmental professionals who work with the DNR's Remediation and Redevelopment (RR) Program. For a more general description of the cleanup process, please visit Cleanup overview. Download NR 700 Process and Timeline (RR-967) [PDF] for a visual summary of steps to receive final case closure per NR 700 rules.

Please contact RR Staff for situations not addressed by guidance and for site-specific technical questions.

 

Forms and Guidance

Forms and Guidance

Proper submittal of documents and requests for assistance

To ensure a timely response, all technical reports and written requests for assistance to the RR Program should follow established guidelines. Areas of special concern include: attaching necessary forms, properly titling all reports and submitting all applicable fees.

REMINDER: To reduce issues in saving and editing DNR forms, save the form using Adobe Acrobat software. This is especially important if the form will need to be edited before submittal to the DNR. Download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free at https://get.adobe.com/reader [exit DNR].

Commonly requested RR Program guidance
Commonly requested RR Program forms

*Note: All case closure forms and guidance are now located on the case closure tab.

Other DNR program forms
  • Well and Boring Forms - Well log, boring log and well and boring abandonment forms, from the Drinking Water and Groundwater Program.
  • Chain of Custody Form (form 4100-145) [PDF] - from the DNR's Laboratory Services Program. This form is used to document how samples are handled between the time they are collected and analyzed.

Case closure

Recently published guidance

Wis. Adm. Code ch. NR 726 Case Closure Reconsideration Process (RR-102) [PDF] - This document provides responsible parties (RPs) with guidance on the opportunities available to engage the department to receive feedback on the adequacy of Wis. Admin. Code chs. NR 700-754, response actions undertaken and submitted by the RP to document case closure. This guidance presents the process and feedback opportunities available if case closure is not recommended by the department. This general process is referred to as the case closure reconsideration process.

Case closure request forms

The following case closure request forms should be used for all case closures, pursuant to Wis. Admin. Code ch. NR 726.

  • Case Closure Request (form 4400-202) [PDF] - Note: Page 11 of form 4400-202 was updated February 2019. The submittal of both an electronic and paper copy are required in accordance with Wis. Admin. Code ch. NR 726.09 (1). Submit all changes to the original closure request in one final, complete electronic file via email attachment or FTP upload. For the final paper copy, only revised or updated pages or figures need to be submitted.

Case closure-related guidance and templates

Information and training

Technologies

Use of remediation technologies and the RR Program

There is no need or requirement for remediation technology vendors or others to obtain a statewide approval from the RR Program for the use of their technologies. Responsible persons (RPs) should use whatever appropriate technology to achieve cleanup standards in accordance with Wis. Admin. Code ch. NR 700 requirements. Cleanup activities and technologies may not cause additional discharges or cause the contamination to spread further or contaminate uncontaminated media.

If the application of the technology results in a discharge or activity that requires another DNR Program approval, then the RP will have to get that approval.

This includes:

  • air emission discharges - Air Management Program;
  • injection wells - Drinking and Groundwater Program;
  • wastewater discharges to surface or groundwater - Watershed Management Program; and
  • solid waste processing facilities, which may include ex-situ treatment of contaminated soil - Waste and Materials Management Program.

Technology vendors are encouraged to contact consultants who do cleanup work in Wisconsin to familiarize them with their technologies if they want them tried here. They may want to fund demonstrations of their technologies at a site or sites in Wisconsin if they want additional exposure and acceptance.

Vendors may provide technical information to the RR Program at any time. If they would like a written review or reaction, then they should pay a $700 fee for other technical assistance in accordance with Wis. Admin. Code ch. NR 749. However, such a letter is not a formal statewide approval for statewide use of the technology from the RR Program.

MOUs

Memorandums of understanding (MOUs)

One Cleanup MOA between DNR and EPA

The DNR and the U.S. EPA Region 5 have a One Cleanup Program Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the two agencies. The MOA is nationally significant in that it is the first EPA-state MOA to address cleanup requirements across several environmental media, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; Toxic Substances Control Act; and Leaking Underground Storage Tanks.

Wisconsin’s program simplifies cleanups of contaminated sites under different regulatory programs by providing a single, consolidated approach rather than utilizing a range of separate programs with potentially conflicting approaches and cleanup standards. By clarifying the U.S. EPA’s intentions and expectations with respect to Wisconsin’s One Cleanup Program, it is believed that the MOA will expedite cleanups of all contaminated sites, including brownfields, as well as guide property owners, developers, consultants and others in understanding how meeting Wisconsin’s standards can satisfy both agencies.

MOU Between DATCP and DNR Concerning the Discharge of Hazardous Substances

This MOU between DATCP and DNR [PDF] concerns the discharge of hazardous substances. Wis. Stats s. 94.73 established the Agricultural Chemical Cleanup Program (ACCP) managed by the DATCP. The purpose of ACCP is to identify and assist in remediation of releases of pesticides and fertilizers. ACCP provides reimbursement for eligible cost incurred by parties conducting cleanups. A portion of the law, Wis. Stats. s. 94.73(12), required DATCP and the DNR enter into an MOU describing each agency's functions in the administration of Wis. Stats. s. 94.73 to ensure corrective actions taken by DATCP are consistent with actions taken under Wis. Stats. s. 292.11(7). The focus of this MOU is on the remediation and waste management activities related to agricultural chemical releases and consequently, other DNR regulations are not fully addressed in the MOU.

MOU Between We Energies and DNR

The DNR negotiated a Memorandum of Agreement with We Energies in 2011. The agreement documents the process We Energies will use when addressing releases of mineral insulating oil containing PCB's less than 50 ppm and also how to manage soil and debris generated in conjunction with routine construction activities at their electrical distribution and industrial support facilities.

MOU Between ATC and DNR

The DNR negotiated an agreement with the American Transmission Company (ATC) on how they would deal with lead contamination in soil at their transmission towers.

Related Links

Additional Resources