Uniform Environmental Covenants Act (UECA) Registry

Illinois's Uniform Environmental Covenants Act (UECA), 765 ILCS 122, creates the environmental covenant: an interest in real estate that can be recorded, arising from an environmental response project that imposes limits on how the property is used. Section 12(a) of the Act requires the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) to keep a registry of every environmental covenant and of any amendment or termination of one.

In a Phase I ESA

The registry is the Illinois form of the state institutional and engineering control registries that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source. The general reading of a controls registry is on the State/Tribal Institutional and Engineering Control Registries page. Three Illinois details shape how far it reaches.

• It covers some cleanups, not all. Illinois EPA says the Act applies to remediation under RCRA, under CERCLA, or under an order of a court or of the Illinois Pollution Control Board issued under the Illinois Environmental Protection Act. It does not apply to Site Remediation Program or LUST projects that end with a No Further Remediation letter or rely on an Environmental Land Use Control. Controls from those programs are written into the No Further Remediation (NFR) letter and recorded with the county, so check both.
• What a covenant can hold. Illinois EPA says the Act's aim is that land use restrictions, required environmental monitoring and many common engineering controls be recorded in the land records and enforced over time. The covenant sets out the use controls and remediation requirements placed on the property, and grants rights under it to one or more parties called holders.
• It lasts. A covenant takes effect only with Illinois EPA's approval, given by the Director's signature. It runs with the land and survives a transfer of the property. It is permanent unless the covenant itself limits its term, or Illinois EPA, U.S. EPA where it is a holder, and the current owner in fee simple agree to amend or end it.

What the record shows

The registry page is a table with three columns: the site's name, its location, and the date the covenant was recorded. Under the site name each entry also gives the property's parcel numbers (PINs) and identification numbers for the site. On October 13, 2026 the latest recording date shown was September 24, 2025. The registry lists covenants, not the full terms; the covenant itself is in the county land records.

Where to look a site up

• Illinois EPA's registry of environmental covenants, linked from its Uniform Environmental Covenants Act page.
• The covenant is recorded in the land records of the county where the property lies, so look for it in the title search as well.
• The Bureau of Land's switchboard is (217) 524-3300.

Getting the file

Illinois EPA takes requests under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act through its online FOIA Request Web Form, which needs an account, or by fax, U.S. mail or special carrier. Give the site name, address and the parcel numbers. Fees, reply times and the options for large files are on the FOIA requests page.

Sources

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency pages, read October 13, 2026:

• Uniform Environmental Covenants Act, last modified July 31, 2025.
• Registry, last modified June 24, 2026.
• Bureau of Land Contacts, last modified September 29, 2025.
• Freedom of Information Act, last modified May 2, 2024.