The multienvironment conditional probability density function (MECPDF) model was first proposed by Fox [Computational Models for Turbulent Reacting Flows (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003)] as a simple extension of multienvironment probability density function models for turbulent reacting flows. Like the conditional moment closure (CMC) and the laminar flamelet model (LFM), the MECPDF model describes the reacting scalars conditioned on the value of the mixture fraction. However, unlike CMC and LFM, the new model provides a consistent description of conditional fluctuations in both the scalar dissipation rate and the reacting scalars, and hence can be used to model partial extinction and reignition in homogeneous turbulent reacting flows. In this work, a general derivation of the MECPDF model is presented for a single reaction-progress variable using the direct quadrature method of moments. Extensions of the model to multiple reaction-progress variables and conditioning on the mixture-fraction vector are also discussed. After deriving the model, the closure assumptions are validated using direct simulations for pure diffusion of two randomly distributed, initially correlated scalar fields. Two homogeneous applications are then considered: nonreactive mixing starting from nontrivial initial conditions, and reactive mixing with partial extinction and reignition.