Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Fund Program

The Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Program (DERP) closed to new applicants on August 30, 2008. Those who have been accepted into the program should continue their cleanup work. This page provides information on how to undetake site investigation and cleanup under DERP.

Notice: Transfer of Money to DERF Authorized by DNR and DOA

The 2009 - 2011 State budget authorized the transfer of $6.2 million from the Environmental Improvement Fund (EIF) to the Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Fund (DERF). The EIF helps fund cleanup of contaminated groundwater, which is one of the goals of the DERF. The DERF, funded by dry cleaning license fees, reimburses dry cleaner owners and operators for their eligible costs for cleaning up soil and groundwater contaminated with dry cleaning chemicals. The DERF program has been very successful in promoting cleanup of dry cleaning facilities around the state (48 sites have been cleaned up and 179 sites are in the cleanup process), and as a result, the fund has run a deficit and been unable to reimburse almost $2 million in money currently owed to dry cleaners. An agreement for the transfer of the money between the two funds was signed by the Secretaries of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Department of Administration (DOA), and became effective July 30, 2009. Dry cleaners who have been waiting for reimbursement payments can expect to see the first checks arrive before the end of August. Any questions about this should be directed to DNR's Jillian Steffes (608.266.1967).

Program Background

The Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Program (DERP) is a reimbursement program for dry cleaners for the investigation and cleanup costs of dry cleaning facilities.

This program was created in the 1997 - 1999 state budget, effective 10/14/97. This program was developed by the dry cleaning industry to cover eligible costs associated with responding to, investigating and cleaning up contamination caused by releases of dry cleaning solvents. The program is funded by a license fee for dry cleaners and a solvent fee on the sale of dry cleaning solvents. Two department bureaus, Remediation and Redevelopment and Community Financial Assistance, work in partnership to administer the program to dry cleaners.

  • Chapter 292.65 [exit DNR] - the statute establishing the Dry Cleaner Enironmental Response Fund;
  • NR 169 [exit DNR] - the administrative rule governing how the Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Fund program is implemented.

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Program Information

The Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Program (DERP) closed to new applicants on August 30, 2008. Those who have been accepted into the program should continue their cleanup work.

To help understand how the Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Program works, there are a series of fact sheets available for you to look at or download:

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Application Materials

In addition to the fact sheets listed above, a series of application forms and accompanying instructions are available for your use. Use of these forms is required to participate in the Dry Cleaning Environmental Response Program.

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Program Stats

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Governor's Dry Cleaners Environmental Response Council

Council Products

The following links are products of the Governor's Dry Cleaners Environmental Response Council, not the DNR.

Past Meeting Minutes

May, 1998 [PDF 96KB] September, 1998 [PDF 120KB] June, 1998 [PDF 93KB]
October, 1998 [PDF 87KB] December, 1998 [PDF 71KB] May, 1999 [PDF 49KB]
December, 1999 [PDF 62KB] May, 2000 [PDF 69KB] March, 2001 [PDF 97KB]
May, 2001 [PDF 81KB] October, 2001 [PDF 67KB] May, 2002 [PDF 82KB]
February, 2003 [PDF 78KB] July, 2003 [PDF 63KB] March, 2004 [PDF 90KB]
February, 2005 [PDF 24KB] April, 2005 [PDF 17KB] November, 2005 [PDF 89KB]
April, 2006 [PDF 122KB] December, 2006 [PDF 12KB] May, 2007 [PDF 78KB]
November, 2007 [PDF 151KB] August, 2009 [PDF 209KB]

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Links

There are several other web sites outside of the DNR web site that may be of interest to you if you are involved with the cleanup of a dry cleaning facility:

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Additional Information

If you have questions about your dry cleaning facility or a cleanup you are involved with, you should contact your regional Remediation and Redevelopment project manager [PDF 36KB].

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For more information on this specific page, contact:

Terry Evanson
608.266.0941

Last Revised: Thursday November 05 2009