The Air Monitoring Section operates ambient air quality sampling sites throughout West Virginia. The sampling sites are located to assess air quality levels based on population exposure, and industry emissions to determine compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), background levels, and other special purposes.

Air Quality data is collected and reviewed at the Division of Air Quality (DAQ)'s office in Charleston and at the Northern Panhandle Regional Office (NPRO) in Wheeling. EPA criteria pollutant data is analyzed, quality assured, and reported for approximately 18 sites across the state.

Performs a wide variety of activities that help support current Division of Air Quality functions and also establish future initiatives. It holds the primary responsibility for the development and periodic revision of the State Implementation Plan (SIP), a federally-enforceable strategy that details how a state plans to attain and maintain compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) mandated by the Clean Air Act. 

The Emission Trading Program, pursuant to 45CSR28, "Air Pollutant Emissions Banking and Trading", began in August 2000 and trades in all criteria pollutants except ozone. This rule provides for a voluntary open-market emission trading program. Sources that produce more cost effective pollution control techniques and over-comply with state and federal air standards can generate Emission Reduction Credits (ERCs) and market them to sources with high costs of compliance so they may realize a cheaper compliance option that achieves equivalent or greater overall emission reductions on a statewide basis. While providing incentives to make progress toward the attainment or maintenance of air quality standards, 45CSR28 has provisions that ensure no increase in actual emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and that act as safeguards to protect human health, welfare and the environment.

This section regulates air emissions from facilities that treat, store and dispose of solid and hazardous waste from hazardous waste combustion, thermal treatment, and air emission standards for equipment vents, equipment leaks, and for tanks, containers and surface impoundments. This is accomplished by evaluating permit applications for approval or denial, conducting site inspections to confirm compliance, observing facility's compliance stack test performance, and initiating enforcement actions when facilities are found in violation of the conditions of their permits or state and federal rules. Air emissions from hazardous waste combustion facilities are regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Clean Air Act (CAA). Air emissions from solid waste facilities, such as municipal solid waste landfills, hospital/medical/infectious waste incinerators and commercial industrial waste incineration units, are regulated under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA).

Staff is also responsible for drafting rules and state plans for adopting changes and new requirements to maintain consistency with federal regulatory programs and in keeping with state goals, to protect human health and the environment.

The Office of Abandoned Mine Lands & Reclamation of West Virginia oversees and facilitates the resolving of public safety issues as mine fires & subsidence, hazardous highwalls, mining-impacted water supplies, open shafts and portals, and other dangers resulting from mining before 1977.

Brownfields are properties that are contaminated or perceived to be contaminated, thus complicating redevelopment or expansion on that property. The Brownfields Section within the Office of Environmental Remediation oversees voluntary environmental assessment and remediation programs to return brownfield properties back to productive uses.

The WV DEP's LCAP aids the owners/permittees of landfills that were required to cease operations because of certain statutory closure deadlines for non-composite lined facilities. The program specifically designs and constructs all closure-related activities necessary to accomplish the following: manage leachate sufficiently, control sediment and erosion, manage natural gas, and monitor groundwater and a final cover cap on non-composite lined landfills.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection generally utilizes Land Use Covenants (LUCs)—also referred to as environmental covenants—as institutional controls on sites where removal and treatment of all contamination is not possible or practical. LUCs are legal instruments that impose activity and use limitations (AULs) where residual contamination is present on a property.

Remediation of sites in the Voluntary Remediation Program and UECA-LUST Program must be supervised by a Licensed Remediation Specialist (LRS). An LRS is an individual certified by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection as qualified to supervise the assessment and remediation of contaminated sites. Licensed Remediation Specialists must meet minimum education and experience requirements, pass an examination administered by WVDEP, and obtain continuing education.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, was enacted by Congress on December 11, 1980, and amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) on October 17, 1986. This law provides federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment. The law authorizes two kinds of response actions: removal and remedial.

The Uniform Environmental Covenants Act-Leaking Underground Storage Tank (UECA-LUST) Program is an alternative remediation option for releases from underground storage tanks (USTs).

Through the UECA-LUST Program, applicants may instead remediate these sites to risk-based standards utilizing engineering and institutional controls, such as covers, caps, and land use restrictions, in accordance with the Uniform Environmental Covenants Act (W. Va. Code § 22-22B).

The West Virginia Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP) was established in 1996 through the Voluntary Remediation and Redevelopment Act (W. Va. Code § 22-22), to encourage voluntary cleanup and redevelopment of abandoned or under-utilized contaminated properties by providing certain environmental liability protections under West Virginia law.

Section 401 Water Quality Certification is required for each permit or license issued by a federal agency to ensure that projects will not violate the state's water quality standards or stream designated uses. States are authorized to issue Certification under Section 401 of the Federal Clean Water Act.

The majority of certification requests are for dredge and fill operations regulated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The U.S. Coast Guard issues permits for bridge constuction on navigable waterways. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is responsible for licenses related to hydropower facilities. Applicants must receive State 401 Water Quality Certification before they can receive a permit from the federal agency.

The Clean Water State Revolving Fund program is a funding program to address water quality problems through wastewater facility construction, upgrades, or expansions. The program is charged with general oversight, fiscal management and administrative compliance review of local governmental entities that receive funds. This section provides information and guidance on what administrative actions are needed to process a loan through the program. When a community has been recommended by the West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council to seek the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program for financial assistance, that community will be contacted by one of the financial managers

The Division of Water and Waste Management's Groundwater/UIC Program coordinates the groundwater protection efforts of the Bureau for Public Health, the Department of Agriculture, and various DEP programs under the authority of the 1991 Groundwater Protection Act and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Groundwater/UIC Program has seven main responsibilities: Underground Injection Control (UIC), Groundwater Remediation, Groundwater Protection Plans, Groundwater Variances, Septic Tank Seal Registration, Monitoring Well Driller Certification, and Monitor Well Construction/Abandonment.

The In Lieu Fee (ILF) Program was initiated by DEP to provide an additional tool for achieving compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts to waters of the United States and state waters, including wetlands, streams and associated buffers. Permits that are required for such impacts by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under §404 of the Clean Water Act, under §10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, and by the State of West Virginia under §401 of the Clean Water Act. The permit allows permittees to participate in the state's ILF Program if there are no Mitigation Banks available to provide compensatory mitigation. Permittees participate by paying a fee, which is determined by inputting qualitative and quantitative data from proposed impacts to streams and wetlands into the West Virginia Stream and Wetland Valuation Metric.

The Quality Assurance Program is responsible for certifying environmental laboratories to ensure that the DEP receives accurate and reliable analytical data. Laboratories are certified when they follow approved methods, employ well-trained capable staff, and use equipment and instrumentation suited to the work they perform.

Quality Assurance personnel provide laboratory certification services to all divisions of DEP and is open to any U.S. laboratory seeking to provide data to the DEP. In states with reciprocity agreements with West Virginia, laboratories can be granted certification without an on-site inspection by a West Virginia certification officer.

The Nonpoint Source (NPS) Program is part of WVDEP's Watershed Improvement Branch (WIB). The NPS Program coordinates multi-agency and non-government organizations efforts to address nonpoint pollution by: Providing assistance in the proper installation and maintenance of (BMPs), Supporting citizen based watershed organizations, Supporting partners whose activities relate to nonpoint issues, Restoring impaired watersheds with nonpoint abatement projects.

§319 grants are used for Nonpoint Program administration and Watershed projects. Watershed projects attempt to restore waters impaired by nonpoint pollution. 303(d) listings, TMDL development and Management Plan priorities determine eligibility.

Hazardous waste is waste that is dangerous or potentially harmful to our health or the environment. The wastes can be liquid, solid, gas, or sludge. Examples of potential hazardous wastes are discarded commercial products, like cleaning fluids or pesticides, or the by-products of manufacturing processes.

The Division of Water and Waste Management's Hazardous Waste Management Program has the primary responsibility of regulating the management of hazardous waste within the state. This responsibility includes monitoring facilities that generate, treat, store or dispose of hazardous waste for compliance with state and federal regulatory requirements.

The Solid Waste Program is responsible for ensuring that all appropriate solid waste facilities hold a valid permit from the department to install, establish, construct, modify, operate or close said facilities within the State of West Virginia.

The Stormwater Permit Team administers all stormwater related General Permits. The Stormwater Team is responsible for administrative and technical review of applications and stormwater pollution prevention plans (SWPPP’s) submitted for coverage under stormwater permits.

The Assessment Unit of the WVDEP Water Quality Standards and Assessment Section performs assessments of data collected to measure water quality in West Virginia waters, including streams, lakes, and wetlands. The Assessment Unit is responsible for carrying out requirements of the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) and 305(b) to report on water quality. Specifically, the Assessment Unit prepares and releases the Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report, which includes impaired streams list. The Assessment Unit is also responsible for developing “Total Maximum Daily Loads”. A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) is a plan of action used to clean up streams that are not meeting water quality standards. The plan includes pollution source identification and strategy development for contaminant source reduction or elimination.

The Monitoring Unit of the WVDEP Water Quality Standards and Assessment Section is responsible for monitoring water quality for West Virginia waters. This is accomplished through several ongoing monitoring programs that focus on different aspects of water quality. Environmental specialists measure water chemistry and habitat information on-site; collect water samples for laboratory analysis; and collect benthic macroinvertebrate and fish. Data from all water quality monitoring efforts are maintained in a central database and are available to the public upon request.

Water Quality Standards (Standards) are the foundation of the water quality based control program mandated by the Clean Water Act. The Standards form the legal basis for controls on the amount of pollution entering West Virginia waters from sources such as industrial facilities, wastewater treatment plants and storm sewers. Standards are also the technical basis for reducing runoff from rural and urban areas. A standard can consist of either numeric or narrative limits for a specific physical or chemical parameter. Ultimately, a water quality standard is developed to help protect and maintain water quality necessary to meet and maintain designated or assigned uses, such as swimming, recreation, public water supply, and/or aquatic life.

In 2004, the West Virginia legislature passed the Water Resources Protection Act. The purpose of the act was to gather Water Use information on the quantity and use of state surface and groundwater resources. In 2008, the act was amended and renamed the Water Resources Protection and Management Act. The amended act required the development of a water resources management plan for the state by 2013. A Water Resources Management Plan for the State was adopted in March of 2014 and can be downloaded from WVWaterPlan. Progress reports to the Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on State Water Resources are required each November.