The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) administers the Voluntary Cleanup Program, which cleans contaminated sites so the land is safe to use for development.

Once a formerly problematic site is treated under the program, future lenders and landowners receive protection from liability from the state. A Voluntary Cleanup Program certificate of completion is one way to escape the hurdles of redeveloping land with an environmentally unfriendly past. But what types of properties qualify for the program? Here are a couple of examples.

A 71-acre central Austin property used as a chemical research facility was turned into a mixed-use property through the Voluntary Cleanup Program. Once contamination from the facility was remediated, the property could be built upon for residential and commercial use, as well as a transit stop for Austin’s MetroRail.

Another success story from the program is in Dallas. Crescent Court—which had residences, 工业企业, and office complexes from the ’70s to 2003—was contaminated by petroleum-related chemicals. 一次矫正, the land was used for development of the Rosewood Court building in the Crescent Complex.

Learn more about the Voluntary Cleanup Program and application process on TCEQ的网站.