Contaminated Properties

The Department’s policy is to avoid the acquisition of contaminated property whenever feasible.  If contaminated property cannot be avoided, it must be adequately investigated for the presence of hazardous materials, the past or current property owners should be identified, and any previous, ongoing or planned cleanup activities established.

The state should not accept liability for contamination it did not cause nor accept responsibility for the cost of remediation. This policy is prudent because it eliminates potentially unnecessary costs to transportation projects, protects workers, eliminates long term liability for contaminated sites and the waste produced during remediation, and avoids delays caused by remediation and regulatory interaction.

There are exceptional situations where contaminated property must be acquired in order for a project to proceed. In these situations, acquisition of contaminated property may occur only after an adequate site investigation of the property has been conducted, the cost of the remediation has been considered in the appraisal and acquisition process, and potential impacts to the project and to the state are adequately understood. In these cases every effort must be made to avoid acceptance of legal liability and responsibility for the cost of cleanup. In certain cases headquarters approval is required prior to acquisition.

• 1995 Property Acquisition Memo (275 KB) [8/16/1995]

The “Cortese List” (required by Government Code Section 65962.5) contains information about contaminated properties. The list must be checked as part of the initial screening for all projects. A property's presence on the list has bearing on the local permitting process as well as on compliance with CEQA. For example a CE can NOT be prepared for a project that will involve a property that is on the list.

The list is composed of 5 databases maintained by different state boards and departments. All 5 databases must be examined to determine whether a property is actually on the “list.” The California Environmental Protection Agency is the primary entity responsible for the “Cortese List” and has a webpage which contains links to each of the databases as well as background and history information about the “Cortese List” statute:

• http://www.calepa.ca.gov/SiteCleanup/CorteseList/default.htm

Many transportation projects are developed and constructed through a partnership between Caltrans and a local jurisdiction or transportation agency. Cooperative agreements are the contractual vehicle used to document the relationship between Caltrans and its local partners. Caltrans has policy regarding the management of hazardous materials and contamination in these partnership situations. The cooperative agreement standard language formats and pre-approved forms relating to hazardous materials and contamination are consistent with this policy. To access the text of the policy see:

• Hazardous Material Remediation for Special Funded and Jointly Funded Project (144 KB) [12/9/2003]