Dry Cleaner Program

Funding

All activities under the dry cleaner statutes are funded through fees paid by the dry cleaning industry. Fees paid to the Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Account include:

• $500.00 for any dry cleaning facility that utilized any solvent prior to January 1998 and;
• $500.00 for any dry cleaning facility that utilizes Perchloroethylene and;
• solvent fees of $10.00 for each gallon of Perchloroethylene and $2.00 for each gallon of other solvent purchased.

The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) collects fees from dry cleaners. Fee returns are sent out once per year. Payments are collected by DEQ and deposited in the State Treasury and credited to the Account. Solvent fees are paid quarterly by solvent distributors who collect the fee when they sell the solvent.

In the event a dry cleaner fails to pay the fee on time, a penalty of 10 percent of the unpaid fees is assessed. Additional penalties of 10 percent are changed for each additional 30-day period the fees remain unpaid. Remaining outstanding accounts are referred to either the Department of Revenue or a private collection agent.

Based on money accrued to the account, the DEQ will fund cleanups as quickly as possible. Currently there are not enough funds in the account to clean up all facilities that apply, those that present the highest risk to human health and the environment are funded first. Cleanups at additional facilities will be selected as funds are available.

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