Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Fund Program

On this page, you can find information about:


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

In March, 2008, letters were sent to dry cleaners reminding them that they must submit a Potential Claim Notification Form no later than Aug 30, 2008 in order to be eligible for DERF.

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:

2008 Public Meetings

Three public meetings were held in June and July, 2008, to help Wisconsin drycleaners understand the requirements of Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Fund, including how the fund operates, benefits to drycleaners, eligibility for funding, deadline to enter the program, steps drycleaners need to take before August 30, 2008 to be eligible for the fund, and costs to dry cleaners and how the drycleaner’s money is reimbursed by DNR.

The meeting were as follows:

  • Monday, June 23, 2008 - DNR Waukesha Service Center, 141 NW Barstow Street, Room 151, Waukesha, WI 53188
  • Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - DNR South Central Service Center, 3911 Fish Hatchery Road, Madison, WI 53711
  • Tuesday, July 8, 2008 - DNR West Central Service Center, 1300 W. Clairemont Ave., Eau Claire, WI 54702

Korean translation was available at the first two meetings.

Webcasts (from June 25 meeting):

For more information, see our public meeting agenda [PDF, 13KB], or contact Terry Evanson (608.266.0941).

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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. All forms and fact sheets were sent to all licensed dry cleaning facilities in December 1999.

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Program Stats

Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Program Status

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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]

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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

Last Revised: Thursday July 17 2008