Environmental Covenant & Institutional Control

Environmental Covenant Announcement

The legislature passed the "Uniform Environmental Covenants Act" (UECA), (see Iowa Code Chapter 455I), which took effect July 1, 2005.

This legislation create a new real estate instrument called an environmental covenant which will be required in lieu of the "restrictive covenant" instrument which had been used in the Leaking Underground Storage Tanks (LUST) program (see chapter 567 Iowa Administrative Code (IAC) 135). It also replaces the "environmental easement" used in the Land Recycling Program (LRP) (see chapter 567 IAC 137).

For further questions regarding Department requirements for submittal and approval of environmental covenants contact Noah Poppelreiter, Attorney, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, at 515-669-8752 or
Noah.Poppelreiter@dnr.iowa.gov.

Environmental Covenant

The Department drafted a model environmental covenant for use in the LUST and LRP programs. There are certain provisions that must be incorporated into the covenant and there is broad discretionary authority to incorporate other provisions. (Iowa Code Chapter 455I).

The Department has prepared the Environmental Covenant Preparation Guidance document which provides the steps and supporting documentation that needs to be submitted for review and approval.

Aboveground Storage Tank (AST) Environmental Covenant Model
Aboveground Storage Tank (AST) Environmental Covenant Model

CSS Environmental Covenant Model
CSS Environmental Covenant Model

Environmental Covenant Submission Steps
Environmental Covenant Submission Steps

Iowa Acknowledgements
Iowa Acknowledgements

Land Recycling Program (LRP) Environmental Covenant Model
Land Recycling Program (LRP) Environmental Covenant Model

Model Recording Cover Sheet **
Model Recording Cover Sheet **

Property Interest Certification Form
Property Interest Certification Form

UST Environmental Covenant Model
UST Environmental Covenant Model

** must be used for recording purposes for both LUST and LRP environmental covenants. Iowa Code section 331.601A established uniform formatting requirements for all documents filed with the county recorders office, including environmental covenants.

NOTICE: Regardless of the covenant model you use, the submission must comply with the requirements of Iowa Code 455I.

Institutional Control

The Department has also modified portions of the current LUST Institutional Control Guidance to provide policy on the type of supporting documentation and research that needs to accompany any LUST institutional control submitted for review and approval by the Department.