Maine
RCRA Corrective Action and Closure Program
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) says it is responsible for overseeing the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) program's efforts in Maine, including cleanup programs and contaminated sites. Two of DEP's programs under it matter to a Phase I. The Corrective Action Program oversees the cleanup of hazardous waste releases from RCRA-regulated facilities. The Closure Program applies to hazardous waste generators that are ceasing operations, changing ownership or relocating.
In a Phase I ESA
DEP says the State is required to maintain administrative records of all facilities that have entered the RCRA program. It sits beside the federal corrective action records described on the RCRA CORRACTS page and the generator records on the RCRA Generators page. ASTM E1527-21 lists state hazardous waste facility records among its standard sources. This handbook does not pair a Maine list with that type: the RCRA page points to the Division of Remediation Sites List for known hazardous waste facilities, but DEP's description of that list names six other programs and not this one. This is one of the Maine records that bear on it; the other is Hazardous Waste.
How a corrective action case moves
DEP says corrective action can begin with a facility's self-reporting of a release, DEP's notice of a potential release, or an enforcement action, and can be part of a facility's operating license or set by an administrative order. The steps DEP lists are an initial site assessment or RCRA Facility Assessment, site characterization or RCRA Facility Investigation, an evaluation of remedial alternatives or Corrective Measures Study, remedy implementation or Corrective Measures Implementation, and Corrective Action Standards Attained.
A facility that reaches Standards Attained stays in the program, and DEP says attained milestones are continuously evaluated and can be rescinded if conditions at the facility, or new information about contaminants, affect its ability to meet the standards it attained or prompt further investigation. DEP says it is launching a Long-Term Stewardship Initiative, which involves ongoing monitoring and management of remediated sites. Read a Standards Attained milestone as a status at a date, not a closed book.
How a generator closes
- A hazardous waste generator that is going to cease operations, move or change ownership must notify DEP at least 45 days before the final day of operations. The Closure Program covers small and large quantity generators and facilities holding Abbreviated, Interim or treatment, storage and disposal (TSD) licenses.
- On ceasing hazardous waste operations, the facility must conduct a certified closure under the Maine Hazardous Waste Rules (851.11), and DEP's page says a closure report certified by a professional engineer is due to DEP within 90 days of starting the process.
- If the closure satisfies all state requirements, DEP issues a Certificate of Closure.
For a property where a generator operated, ask whether a closure report was filed and a Certificate of Closure issued.
Where to look a site up
The program page links the Remediation Sites Managed by the Division of Remediation and DEP's Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management maps as information on known hazardous waste facilities. DEP's own description of that sites list names six other remediation programs and not this one, though DEP's online remediation documents portal includes RCRA Corrective Action and Closure sites. This handbook did not open the list, the map or the portal. For a specific facility, the page says to contact the program head. DEP's Hazardous Waste page gives its Hazardous Waste Staff at (207) 287-7688, the same number as the main line in the footer of DEP's pages.
Getting the file
The file room's paper files include Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Generators, and Treatment Storage Disposal (TSD) Facilities, reviewed by appointment at (207) 287-7843. See File Room, Reports and Lists.
Sources
Maine Department of Environmental Protection pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown: