Environmental Compliance and Cleanup Division

Before and After

Left image
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Krejci Dump Site as it appeared circa 1985 when the National Park Service purchased the property.
Credit: NPS Collection

Right image
Native vegetation planted on the former Krejci Dump Site was established by 2015.
Credit: NPS / Chris Davis

The Environmental Compliance and Cleanup Division (ECCD) protects and restores our country’s greatest collection of natural, historic, and cultural treasures. The Division is responsible for setting Agency-wide environmental compliance and cleanup policies, advocacy and guidance, and process oversight.

Legacy pollution and day-to-day operations pose complex environmental challenges in all our national parks. NPS is dedicated to responsible stewardship of these lands by cleaning up the pollution from historic industrial practices, such as oil and gas wells, industrial waste dumps, and landfills; and making sure parks comply with all environmental laws. ECCD is also responsible for evaluating and managing potential environmental risks associated with land acquisitions that support park expansion and enrichment. In these ways, ECCD plays a critical part in preserving our parks for current and future generations.

NPS ECCD Team, hosted by Department of Energy representatives, tours the B Reactor Building at the Hanford Nuclear Waste Facility in January 2020 and learns about the environmental impacts of the Manhattan Project.

NPS/ECCD Photo Archives, 2020

What We Do

Contaminated Site Cleanup

The National Park Service has more than 500 sites contaminated with past pollution, estimated at a $1.5 billion clean-up cost. ECCD uses teams of experts to oversee each cleanup project. These teams follow a framework that ensures sites are restored and, if known or identified, the responsible parties pay for the cleanup under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). So far, ECCD has successfully recovered or avoided more than $400 million in cleanup costs directly benefitting NPS lands and resources. Given budget limitations, these cost recovery efforts are essential to funding further cleanup work in national parks.

NPS representatives tour a burn site at Santa Monica National Recreation Area, CA as part of the June 2019 Servicewide Environmental Workgroup Strategic Session.

NPS/ECCD Photo Archives, 2019.

Environmental Compliance and Audits

ECCD helps regional offices and parks to follow environmental rules and prevent harm to the environment from day-to-day operations, facilities, activities, and programs (e.g., maintenance yards, fueling stations, marinas, etc.) by offering guidance, resources, and financial support for environmental programs. ECCD also checks on how well parks are doing at protecting the environment through regular audits. These audits help parks stay up to date on environmental rules and make sure they're operating responsibly. Each park gets audited at least once every five years.

Contact Us

The Environmental Compliance and Cleanup Division administers the contaminated site cleanup and environmental compliance programs for units of the National Park Service.

Denver Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 25287
Denver, CO 80225-0287
Email: [e-mail]