Maine
Hazardous Waste
The Maine Legislature enacted the Maine Hazardous Waste, Septage and Solid Waste Management Act in 1979, directing the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to issue state rules for the safe management and transportation of hazardous wastes. DEP says the rules, the Maine Hazardous Waste Management Regulations in Chapters 850 through 858, build on the minimum federal rules and are tailored to Maine's environment and its strong reliance on groundwater for drinking water. DEP's page says new hazardous waste rules were adopted as of July 7, 2026, including a new chapter for pharmaceutical wastes, which its rules list shows as Chapter 859.
In a Phase I ESA
DEP's file room holds paper files on generators, hazardous and non-hazardous waste manifests and transporters, and treatment, storage and disposal facilities, and its online portal holds scanned hazardous waste manifests. They sit beside the federal records described on the RCRA Generators page and the RCRA TSD page. ASTM E1527-21 lists state hazardous waste facility records among its standard sources. This handbook does not pair a single Maine list with that type: DEP's RCRA page points to the Division of Remediation Sites List and its maps for information on known hazardous waste facilities, but DEP's description of that list names six other programs and not RCRA, and the pages read link no list of hazardous waste generators. This is one of the Maine records that bear on it; the other is the RCRA Corrective Action and Closure Program. Three Maine details help.
- Maine's listed wastes include PCBs. DEP's page names four categories of listed waste: non-specific sources, specific sources, commercial chemical products, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Its four criteria for a characteristic waste are ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity and toxicity.
- Manifests are searchable. DEP says every shipment of hazardous waste must be documented by a Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest, on paper or, since June 30, 2018, through EPA's e-Manifest system. DEP's online portal of scanned hazardous waste manifests can be queried by criteria such as manifest number, town or facility. Search them by town and facility for waste shipped from the property.
- A generator's closure leaves a record. A hazardous waste generator that ceases operations, moves or changes ownership must notify DEP and close under the rules; see the RCRA Corrective Action and Closure Program.
DEP's page sends those who need an EPA ID number to EPA's notification of regulated waste activity, by paper form or through EPA's myRCRAid system. DEP also links a monthly list of active hazardous waste and waste oil transporters.
Where to look a site up
- DEP's File Room, Reports and Lists page links the online portal of scanned hazardous waste manifests. Not all files have been scanned.
- The Hazardous Waste/Universal Waste page links the Active Hazardous Waste and Waste Oil Transporters list. This handbook did not open it or the portal.
- For more information, DEP gives its Hazardous Waste Staff at (207) 287-7688.
Getting the file
The file room's paper files include Generators, Hazardous & Non Hazardous Waste Manifests, Hazardous & Non Hazardous Waste Transporters, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and Treatment Storage Disposal (TSD) Facilities, reviewed by appointment at (207) 287-7843. Only finalized documents may be viewed there. See File Room, Reports and Lists.
Sources
Maine Department of Environmental Protection pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown: