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Colorado environmental records for a Phase I ESA

20Program pages

Colorado programs

Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Oil and Public Safety 6

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment 14

Colorado environmental records for a Phase I ESA

A Phase I records review in Colorado draws on two state agencies. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) runs the cleanup, covenant, hazardous waste and solid waste programs through its Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division (HMWMD). The Division of Oil and Public Safety (OPS), in the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, regulates petroleum storage tanks, so tank registrations and petroleum releases are its records. This page maps each kind of record ASTM E1527-21 asks for to the Colorado program behind it, and links a page on each program.

The standard record types, in Colorado

ASTM record type Colorado program Agency
State Superfund equivalent The pages read name no separate state list. CDPHE's Superfund sites page covers the federal list, and its own cleanup authority is on the Solid and hazardous waste cleanup page. CDPHE
Landfills and solid waste sites Solid waste and materials management sites and facilities CDPHE
Leaking storage tanks Petroleum release events OPS
Registered storage tanks Regulated storage tank registrations OPS
State hazardous waste facilities No single Colorado list is paired here. CDPHE's list of permitted facilities and the federal searches it points to are on the Hazardous waste management sites and facilities page. CDPHE
Institutional and engineering controls Environmental covenants and use restrictions CDPHE
Voluntary cleanup sites Voluntary Cleanup and Redevelopment Program CDPHE
Brownfields sites Brownfields Program. OPS's Petroleum Brownfields Program funds work at abandoned former gas stations; the pages read describe no site list for it. CDPHE and OPS

How far each search reaches is on the ASTM search distances page.

Other Colorado records worth reading

These are not on ASTM's standard list, but each answers a question a Colorado Phase I runs into.

Two agencies, and more than two record sets

Tanks are the dividing line. CDPHE's page on how to find out if a site is contaminated sends readers to OPS's map to locate leaking petroleum storage tanks. A search that stops at one agency leaves the other agency's records unread. For a gas station, the registration and any release event are at OPS. For a former industrial site, the cleanup and waste records are at CDPHE.

Inside CDPHE the records are split again. HMWMD says each environmental division maintains separate records, and that the Air Pollution Control Division and the Water Quality Control Division must be contacted individually. CDPHE's Public records page sends requests for Tier II information to its Environmental Health and Sustainability division, at cdphe.dehs.support@state.co.us.

Some records are local. A solid waste Certificate of Designation is issued by the county or municipality with jurisdiction, after CDPHE's technical review.

OPS lists aboveground tanks associated with oil or gas production among the tanks it does not regulate, and says that for items outside its jurisdiction a reader may contact CDPHE at 303-692-3331 or the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission at 303-894-2100. The pages read say nothing more about oil and gas records, and this handbook has no Colorado page on them.

One search that crosses HMWMD's programs

HMWMD's records review page links two tools: an interactive records map and a records search by address, site name, site ID and more. HMWMD says it designed its map portal and records search tool to provide an easy way to find facilities and their HMWMD records. Start there when you have an address or a site name. HMWMD does not record parcel numbers and cannot search by them.

Getting a file from CDPHE

A listing says a record exists. The reports and letters are in the file. HMWMD takes records requests through the records request form on its records review page, or in writing at cdphe_cora_hmwmd@state.co.us, and says it responds to all requests within three business days. It asks for as much of the following as you have:

  • the name of the site or facility;
  • the street address, or the nearest intersection or latitude and longitude if there is no street address;
  • the title and date of the document, if a specific record is wanted;
  • any other information about the site or incident that may help staff in their research.

The Records Unit provides a link to a search result or a single document. It scans hard copy records on request, with the first hour of work free and $41.37 per hour after that, and CDPHE charges the actual per-box retrieval fee for records stored offsite. Records can be reviewed on site by appointment. The contact number on the records review page is 303-692-3331.

Getting a file from OPS

OPS's Petroleum Data & File Request page has three doors: its maps of release events and regulated facilities, the Colorado Storage Tank Information System, and a Petroleum File & Data Request form. OPS describes the form as the route for data sets such as tanks or facility types and for individual files from a facility, such as reports and letters. OPS's Technical Assistance Line is 303-318-8547, and the division's main number is 303-318-8525.

Sources

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment pages, read October 7, 2026, no modified date shown:

Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Oil and Public Safety pages, read October 7, 2026, no modified date shown:

Maintained by Barrow. General reference only, not legal or professional advice. Barrow is not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency. See how Barrow drafts the report