Back to www.houstontx.gov > Brownfields Redevelopment Program > Regulatory Coordination

Brownfields Redevelopment Program

Regulatory Coordination

For sites that have confirmed environmental conditions, the City's Brownfields Redevelopment Program will assist enrolled applicants with any necessary state and federal coordination.

Jurisdiction over environmental matters in Texas is given to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

Should the assessment reveal contamination on the property, program staff will contact the applicant to discuss the following options:

  • Possible participation in one of the TCEQs Cleanup Programs where the applicant can pursue cleanup, if necessary, prior to redevelopment and can receive a certificate of completion letter for the property
  • Cleanup standards, goals and technologies
  • Available funding mechanisms
  • Redevelopment suitability regarding environmental issues

TCEQ Remediation Programs

  • Texas Risk Reduction Program - The state rule that established the response action requirements for the remediation program area of the TCEQ
  • Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP) – The VCP provides administrative, technical and legal incentives to encourage the cleanup of contaminated sites in Texas.
  • Industrial and Hazardous Waste Corrective Action Program – This program administers the cleanup of sites contaminated from industrial and municipal hazardous and industrial non-hazardous wastes.
  • Innocent Owner/Operator Program (IOP) – The program provides a certificate to an innocent owner or operator if their property is contaminated as a result of a release or migration of contaminants from a source or sources not located on the property, and they did not cause or contribute to the source or sources of contamination.
  • Brownfield Program – Services such as Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments for local governments and non-profit organizations during commercial real estate transactions. Local governments can apply on behalf of a private owner.
  • Leaking Petroleum Storage Tank Cleanups – Cleanups of contamination cause by spills, leaks, or other releases of petroleum substance or hazardous substances from regulated underground and aboveground storage tanks.
  • Dry Cleaner Remediation Program – This program establishes a priorization list of dry cleaner sites and administers the Dry Cleaning Remediation fund to assist with remediation of contamination caused by dry cleaning solvents.
  • Municipal Setting Designation Program – A program to restrict contaminated groundwater from use as potable water in order to close the ingestion pathway risk assessments and assist in closure of sites with no other open exposure pathway.