Solid Waste Facilities / Landfills (SWF/LF)

State and tribal registries of permitted solid waste facilities: municipal landfills, construction and demolition landfills, transfer stations, composting and processing facilities. Older, closed, and unpermitted dumps appear inconsistently. Many predate permitting entirely.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 requires a 0.5 mile search.

Landfills raise two distinct concerns: leachate impacts to groundwater, and methane, which can migrate laterally through soil into structures within a few hundred feet. Methane is the reason a closed landfill next door matters even when groundwater is deep. Modern lined, permitted facilities with monitoring are a known quantity. The historical unlined dump that shows up only on old topographic maps or aerials is the classic gap in a radius report that historical research has to catch. A property built on or beside filled land deserves attention regardless of what the database says.

Where the data lives

State solid waste program databases and permit files. Historical dumps often surface only through old aerials, topo maps, and local agency records.