Idaho environmental records for a Phase I ESA
Idaho programs
Idaho Department of Environmental Quality 18
- Regulated Underground Storage Tanks
- Leaking Underground Storage Tanks
- Aboveground and heating oil tanks
- Voluntary Cleanup Program
- Brownfields Program
- Preliminary Assessment Program
- Risk Evaluation
- Solid waste facilities
- Hazardous waste generators and permitted facilities
- Open dumping and waste tires
- Environmental covenants
- Facility Mapper
- Spill reports and environmental concerns
- Notices of violation and enforcement
- Mine sites
- Groundwater quality and nitrate priority areas
- Source water assessments
- Septic system records
Idaho environmental records for a Phase I ESA
The Idaho pages in this handbook are drawn from one state agency, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). DEQ says its Waste Management and Remediation Division works to ensure that hazardous waste, solid waste and underground storage tanks are managed properly, and that petroleum and hazardous chemical releases are investigated and cleaned up. So the tank, cleanup and waste records are all DEQ records. This page maps each kind of record ASTM E1527-21 asks for to the Idaho program that holds it, and links a page on each program.
The standard record types, in Idaho
| ASTM record type | Idaho program | Agency |
|---|---|---|
| State Superfund equivalent | The pages read name no separate state list. DEQ's Facility Mapper page lists a General remediation category and a National Priority List category but does not describe either. | DEQ |
| Landfills and solid waste sites | Solid waste facilities | DEQ, with the public health districts |
| Leaking storage tanks | Leaking Underground Storage Tanks | DEQ |
| Registered storage tanks | Regulated Underground Storage Tanks | DEQ |
| State hazardous waste facilities | No single Idaho list is paired here. DEQ's generator and permit records are on the hazardous waste page. | DEQ |
| Institutional and engineering controls | Environmental covenants. DEQ says it maintains an environmental covenant registry. The pages read do not describe a separate list of engineering controls. | DEQ |
| Voluntary cleanup sites | Voluntary Cleanup Program | DEQ |
| Brownfields sites | Brownfields Program | DEQ |
How far each search reaches is on the ASTM search distances page.
Other Idaho records worth reading
These are not on ASTM's standard list, but each answers a question an Idaho Phase I runs into.
- Aboveground and heating oil tanks: the tanks DEQ's tank program does not regulate.
- Risk Evaluation: how DEQ decides whether a release needs cleanup.
- Open dumping and waste tires: who takes dumping complaints, and when a tire pile needs county approval.
- Spill reports and environmental concerns: the 24-hour notification rule and the public concern form.
- Notices of violation and enforcement: how to tell a warning letter from a notice of violation and a consent order.
- Mine sites: which agency leads a mine cleanup, and the permits DEQ issues.
- Groundwater quality and nitrate priority areas: DEQ's groundwater maps, standards and aquifer categories.
- Source water assessments: the areas that feed public wells and the potential contaminant inventory.
- Septic system records: why the permit record is at the public health district.
One agency, and the records it points elsewhere for
DEQ's own pages place some records with other bodies. A search that stops at DEQ leaves these unread.
- Public health districts. Idaho's seven public health districts issue septic system permits, and DEQ says to request septic permits, locations and drawings through them. They also perform operational oversight and regular inspections of municipal landfills once DEQ has approved the location and design.
- EPA. DEQ says EPA regulates petroleum aboveground storage tanks in Idaho under the federal Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule. DEQ's tank program does not regulate them.
- Idaho Department of Water Resources. DEQ says logs for wells drilled since 1987 are on file with that department.
- Counties. Storage of more than 200 waste tires requires county approval, and DEQ points to county solid waste departments for reports of open dumping.
- Federal agencies at mine sites. DEQ says most phosphate mine sites in southern Idaho are on federal land, with cleanup managed by EPA, the U.S. Forest Service or the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
One search that crosses DEQ's programs
DEQ's Facility Mapper page links a map tool that shows the sites managed by its Waste Management and Remediation programs, sorted by regulatory program. The categories include tanks, leaking tanks, voluntary cleanup, brownfields, solid waste, mine sites and general remediation, and the tool gives access to environmental covenant documents. It has a radius search around an address. Start there when you have an address. DEQ says the tool also has keyword searches.
DEQ says older sites with small incidental releases, and sites that lack sufficient location information, may not be included, and that it makes no guarantee or warranty of the tool's accuracy or comprehensiveness. The handbook's Facility Mapper page has the detail. DEQ's tank pages also link a separate UST and LUST Database.
Getting a file from DEQ
A listing says a record exists. The reports and letters are in the file. DEQ says anyone can ask to see or receive copies of its records under the Idaho Public Records Act (Idaho Code § 74-102). Its Public Records Request page carries buttons to submit a request online, track its status and search the request archives. DEQ offers a print form as well, which can be mailed, emailed, faxed or hand delivered to its regional offices, and says the print form may be slower. The page gives publicrecords@deq.idaho.gov as its records contact.
Three points from that page are worth knowing before asking.
- DEQ says some records contain confidential information and may not be released.
- DEQ charges for labor in excess of two hours, at $18.21 per hour, and for copying more than 100 pages.
- DEQ lists self-serve resources that can often answer a question without a formal request, including the Facility Mapper, the tank database, its page of issued permits, and its groundwater and source water maps.
DEQ has regional offices in Boise, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls, Lewiston, Pocatello and Twin Falls, with a satellite office in Kellogg. Its State Office is at 1410 N. Hilton St. in Boise, (208) 373-0502 or (866) 790-4337.
Sources
Idaho Department of Environmental Quality pages, read October 1, 2026:
- Waste Management and Remediation, last modified January 8, 2026.
- Facility Mapper, last modified January 8, 2026.
- Public Records Request, last modified August 18, 2026.
- Regional Offices, last modified August 6, 2026.
- Storage Tanks, last modified April 14, 2026.
- Regulated Underground Storage Tanks, last modified August 6, 2026.
- Environmental Covenant, last modified January 7, 2026.
- Preliminary Assessment Program, last modified January 7, 2026.
- Solid Waste Facility Information, last modified November 21, 2025.
- Open / Illegal Dumping, last modified December 15, 2025.
- Waste Tires, last modified December 15, 2025.
- Septic and Septage, last modified August 18, 2026.
- Wells, last modified November 24, 2025.
- Southern Idaho Phosphate Mining, last modified July 27, 2026.