Drycleaner Workshop
September 30, 2010
G. Nell Tyner, Ph.D., P.G.
Manager, Waste Cleanup Section
DEP Southwest District
Drycleaning Solvent Cleanup Program
(DSCP)
 The DSCP bill was sponsored by the Florida
Drycleaners Association.
 Program created in 1994 by the Florida Legislature
to provide a source of funding for rehabilitating
sites and drinking water supplies contaminated
by drycleaning solvents.
 Chapter 376 of the Florida Statutes (F.S.)
DSCP
 The Program was created to:
 Identify facilities contaminated by drycleaning
solvents.
 Establish a Trust Fund to pay cleanup costs.
 Provide limited immunity to owners, operators
and/or real property owners.
 Eligibility does not relieve the owner, operator or
real property owner from federal actions or from
current waste management requirements.
Program Initiation
• The DSCP was open for voluntary joint application by
drycleaning and wholesale supply facility owners,
operators, and real property owners from March 1996
through December 31, 1998.
• Active or inactive drycleaning facilities, drycleaning
wholesale supply facilities, and coin-operated drycleaning
facilities could apply for cleanup if they had evidence that a
discharge of contaminants had occurred.
• 1,422 sites of the 1,563 that applied to the Program were
deemed eligible for cleanup.
Funding/Budget
Four funding sources:
• 2% gross receipt sales tax
• $5 per gallon tax on perchloroethylene (PCE) solvent
• $100 annual registration fee
• Single deductible fee of $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000 based
on the date of application to the DSCP
Budget
• Fiscal year 2010/2011 = $ 4 million
Site Scoring
• The Department undertakes cleanup of eligible
drycleaners on a priority basis.
• Eligible sites are scored using a system set out in
statute (Section 376.3078 (7), F.S.). This scoring system
accounts for:
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proximity of drinking water supply wells;
the population served by those wells;
hydrogeologic data for the site;
aquifer characteristics;
the probability of a continuing contamination source;
environmental setting; and
fire and/or explosion hazard
Cleanup of Eligible and Ineligible
Sites
 Fund Eligible sites:
 Site rehabilitation of eligible sites is handled through the
Bureau of Waste, Hazardous Waste Cleanup Section in
Tallahassee.
 State contractors are hired.
 Sites are tasked to contractors according to priority.
 Eligible sites that want to clean up sooner, may spend their
own money and file for voluntary cleanup tax credits (VCTCs).
 Fund Ineligible Sites:
 Facilities that are not eligible (includes those with releases
after 1998) must complete cleanup of releases at their own
expense.
Cleanup Criteria Rules
• The Drycleaning Solvent Cleanup Criteria rule
(Chapter 62-782, Florida Administrative Code [F.A.C.]),
provides cleanup procedures for sites contaminated
with drycleaning solvents.
• The Contaminant Cleanup Target Level Rule (Chapter
62-77, F.A.C.) provides cleanup target levels for
groundwater, surface water, and soil as well as natural
attenuation default concentrations for groundwater.
• Site assessment and remediation are conducted
pursuant to these two rules.
Remedial Strategy
• The Program’s remedial strategy is to perform active
remediation in source areas and to apply Natural
Attenuation Monitoring (NAM), where appropriate, for
low-level contaminant plume areas.
• Active remediation of a site may require a single remedial
technology or a combination of technologies.
• To date, approximately 72% of sites with a completed site
assessment have required active remediation for site
cleanup.
• Emphasis is on using in-situ treatment technologies in
order to minimize system operation and maintenance
costs.
DSCP Statistics
 1,422 sites are eligible for the DSCP.
 143 sites have been issued a Site Rehabilitation
Completion Order (SRCO) including Voluntary
Cleanup sites.
 189 sites are currently in assessment, remediation,
or monitoring.
 1,090 sites are waiting to be cleaned up under the
DSCP.
Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credit (VCTC)
• In 1998, the Florida Legislature created the VCTC program
to encourage participants to conduct voluntary cleanup of
certain drycleaning solvent contaminated sites and
Brownfield sites in Designated Brownfield areas.
• Participants may be private or public entities, but they
must meet the eligibility criteria established under statute
and must enter into a Voluntary Cleanup Agreement (VCA),
for drycleaning solvent cleanup, or a Brownfield Site
Rehabilitation Agreement.
• Tax credit certificates are awarded by the DEP from an
annual $2 million authorization and are valid against
Florida Corporate Income Tax. Tax credit awards in excess
of $2 million for any given fiscal year are issued from the
next available tax credit authorization.
Voluntary Cleanup of Eligible Sites
 All eligible DSCP sites may be eligible for VCTC. However,
the deductible due to the DCSP must be paid prior to or
included in the first VCTC application.
 If pursuing voluntary cleanup, a VCA must be executed
with the DEP and:
 RPO (even if also DF O/O) MAY receive statutory immunity and
MAY be eligible for VCTC for voluntarily conducting cleanup.
 DF O/O MAY be eligible for VCTC for voluntarily conducting
cleanup but MAY NOT receive statutory immunity.
Ineligible Sites
 Real property owners (RPOs) and/or Drycleaning Facility
Owner(DF O/Os) are liable under 62-782 (subject to
certain defenses) and must clean up ineligible sites, but
each has different options for cleanup:
 RPOs (who are not also DF O/Os), MAY enter into a Voluntary
Cleanup Agreement (VCA) with the DEP, MAY receive statutory
immunity, and MAY be eligible for VCTC for conducting cleanup.
 If RPOs are also DF O/Os, then they are NOT eligible for VCTC and
MUST cleanup under 62-782, but MAY clean up under VCA and
MAY receive statutory immunity.
 DF O/Os are NOT eligible for a VCA or VCTC, and must clean up
under Chapter 62-782, F.A.C.
Cleanup Process for Ineligible Sites
 Requirements for cleanup process are in Chapter 62-782, F.A.C.
including timeframes for completion:
 First step is to complete a site assessment to characterize the nature
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and full extent of the contamination.
Site assessment must be initiated within 60 days of discovery of a
release.
Notice of field activities should be given prior to performing the
tasks needed to complete the site assessment.
Site Assessment Report must be submitted within 270 days of
discovery of the release.
After site assessment, remedial action (passive or active) needs to be
undertaken to meet the requirements for cleanup.
 Cleanup of ineligible sites is overseen by staff in the DEP’s
District offices.
Third Party Liability Insurance:
• The law requires the owner or operator of a drycleaning facility
or wholesale supply facility to purchase third-party liability
insurance to provide $1 million coverage for bodily injury and
property damage caused by an incident of contamination.
• The requirement to obtain insurance only applies if the third
party insurance is available at a reasonable rate as determined by
the Florida Department of Insurance (DOI).
• Currently, the DOI has not determined that there is an insurance
product(s) that will meet the program requirements and is
available at a reasonable rate. Therefore, DEP has not required
facilities to obtain and maintain the third-party liability
insurance.
Program Links and Contacts
•
Florida DEP DSCP web page
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/drycleaning/default.htm
•
Florida DEP Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credit
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/vctc/default.htm
•
Florida DEP Small Business Environmental Assistance Program
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/air/emission/sbeap/sbeap.htm
•
Compliance Assistance Program for Drycleaning Facilities
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/hazardous/pages/DryCleanComplia
nce.htm
•
State Coalition for the Remediation of Drycleaners
http://www.drycleancoalition.org
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SW District contacts:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/southwest/contacts/