Environmental project management has undergone significant changes in the last ten years. In the mid‐ and late 1980s, regulatory drivers and environmental‐advocacy groups led industry to expend vast sums of money in an attempt to return environmentally impaired property to pristine condition. This sometimes blind approach often left industrial clients with large expenses to general and administrative costs, with minimal reduction in their environmental liability. Today, matured environmental professionals are focusing scarce environmental resources on liability reduction through creative project financing. One approach, which focuses on the petroleum underground storage tank (UST) market, involves scheduling project activities according to insurance‐claim reimbursement cycles.