Skip directly to search Skip directly to A to Z list Skip directly to navigation Skip directly to page options Skip directly to site content

Set It Up Safe: A Planning Tool

Set It Up Safe

Early Care and Education (ECE) facility owners and operators, city planners, zoning officials, ECE licensing agencies, and health and environmental protection departments can all work together to keep children in ECE program locations safe from harmful chemicals. You can use this tool to make sure that children have a safe place to grow, develop, and play.

Following these recommendations will help ensure that early care and education facilities are located in safe places — so that children aren’t exposed to chemicals left over from former uses of a site, naturally occurring hazards, or contamination from nearby locations. These recommendations are designed to complement — and not replace — state and local regulations.

Elements of Safe Child Care Siting

There are 4 things to consider before choosing a location for a new early care and education facility:

  1. Former use of the site
  2. Nearby sites and nearby activities
  3. Naturally occurring contamination
  4. Safe drinking water

Choosing Safe Places for Early Care and Education facilities needs to be a collaborative process. Building partnerships with the agencies and sectors that have the expertise to evaluate each of these 4 elements is essential. It’s the best way to help ensure that early care and education facilities are located in safe places.

Set It Up Safe: New Early Care and Education Facility

Former use of the site

  • Look at documents (such as land records, databases, or other resources) related to current and prior ownership of the property to find out whether any businesses on the property could have used or disposed of hazardous contaminants
  • Get assistance finding relevant documents from the
    • Town or county clerk’s office
    • Town or county planning or zoning department
    • State or county environmental agency
    • State, county, or local health department
    • Historical society
    • Local Chamber of Commerce
    • Town tax assessor
  • Find out whether any environmental site assessments have been done for the property (such as a Phase 1, Phase 2, or Phase 3 Environmental Site Assessment)
  • Get assistance finding relevant environmental documents from the
    • Current property owner
    • State environmental agency files
    • State or national databases of hazardous waste sites
    • State, county, or local health department town files
    • Local land records
  • Review environmental documents to confirm that the site’s former uses have not left hazardous contaminants in the environment
  • Partner with the state or county health department and environmental agency staff with the appropriate expertise to review the documents
  • Visit the site to look for clues that the early care and education building or property may have hazardous substances
    • Inspect areas that may have been used to store hazardous substances such as storage sheds, underground storage tanks, basements, or attics
  • Work with partners (who have the appropriate expertise) to take any necessary follow-up actions to resolve questions or concerns about hazardous contaminants from former use

Resources:

  • Choose Safe Places for Early Care and Education Guidance Manual, Chapters 4.
  • Choose Safe Places for Early Care and Education Guidance Manual, Appendix F (which lists activities of concerns with former or adjacent uses to a site)

Nearby sites and activities

  • Visit the site or do a windshield tour (observing the area from a car) to see whether there are properties surrounding the site that might be using hazardous materials that could affect the early care and education facility property
  • Find out whether there are environmental reports that indicate environmental pollution on nearby properties that could impact the early care and education facility property
  • Get assistance finding environmental reports from
    • State agency files
    • State or national databases of hazardous waste sites
    • State, county, or local health department files
    • Owners of nearby properties
  • Review environmental reports to confirm that pollution from nearby properties is not impacting the early care and education facility property and have not left hazardous contaminants in the environment
  • Partner with the state or county health department and environmental agency staff with the appropriate expertise to review the documents.
  • If there are nearby businesses of potential concern, conduct a site visit of these businesses to determine whether hazardous materials could impact the early care and education facility property
  • Work with partners (who have the appropriate expertise) to take any necessary follow-up actions to resolve questions or concerns about hazardous contaminants coming from these businesses

Resources:

  • Choose Safe Places for Child Care Guidance Manual, Chapters 4
  • Choose Safe Places for Child Care Guidance Manual, Appendix F (which lists activities of concerns with former or adjacent uses to a site)
  • EPA Smart School Siting Tool: Use this tool to get ideas on how to work together to align child care siting with community development
  • EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program: Learn about toxic chemicals in your area and how they are being managed

Naturally occurring contamination

  • Find out whether any areas of naturally occurring contamination (such as arsenic in water, radon in buildings, or asbestos in soil) could affect the proposed early care and education facility site
  • Get assistance with finding areas of naturally occurring contamination from
    • County or local health departments
    • State or county environmental agencies
    • U.S. Geological Survey or a state geologist

Resources:

Safe drinking water

  • Note the type of water system used by the proposed early care and education facility site
  • If the water comes from a private system (a private well, for example)
  • If the water comes from a public water system

Resources:

Additional Tools and Resources

TOP