Maryland environmental records for a Phase I ESA
Maryland programs
Maryland Department of the Environment 17
- Underground storage tank registrations
- Aboveground storage tank registrations and permits
- Oil Control Program remediation sites
- Residential heating oil tanks
- Voluntary Cleanup Program
- Land Restoration Program
- Controlled Hazardous Substance Enforcement Division
- State Master List
- Brownfields
- Land Restoration Program project site mapping
- Land Restoration Program resources and statistics
- Hazardous waste
- Solid waste facilities
- Uniform Environmental Covenants Act
- Emergency Preparedness and Response
- Public Information Act requests
- Open MDE
A Phase I records review in Maryland draws mostly on one state agency, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). MDE says its Oil Control Program, within the Land and Materials Administration, regulates oil-related activities such as aboveground and underground oil storage facilities, and that its Land Restoration Program focuses on cleaning up uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. Its waste pages cover hazardous waste and solid waste facilities. This page maps each kind of record ASTM E1527-21 asks for to the Maryland program that holds it, and links a page on each program.
The standard record types, in Maryland
| ASTM record type | Maryland program | Agency |
|---|---|---|
| State Superfund equivalent | The Controlled Hazardous Substance Enforcement Division, which MDE says is also known as the State Superfund Program. MDE keeps a separate State Master List of potential hazardous waste sites. | MDE |
| Landfills and solid waste sites | Solid waste facilities | MDE |
| Leaking storage tanks | No single Maryland list is paired here. The Oil Control Program oversees cleanup of oil releases and offers a case search, described on the Oil Control Program remediation sites page. | MDE |
| Registered storage tanks | Underground storage tank registrations and Aboveground storage tank registrations and permits | MDE |
| State hazardous waste facilities | No single Maryland list is paired here. The pages read are summarized on the Hazardous waste page. | MDE |
| Institutional and engineering controls | Uniform Environmental Covenants Act: MDE says the Land Restoration Program's mapping site holds an electronic registry of properties that contain recorded environmental covenants. The pages read do not say whether it lists engineering controls. | MDE |
| Voluntary cleanup sites | Voluntary Cleanup Program | MDE |
| Brownfields sites | No list is paired here. One MDE page says MDE has not developed a Brownfields list. Another names a Brownfield Master Inventory, which MDE describes as a list of sites known or reported to be contaminated by hazardous waste. See Brownfields. | MDE |
How far each search reaches is on the ASTM search distances page.
Other Maryland records worth reading
These are not on ASTM's standard list, but each answers a question a Maryland Phase I runs into.
- Land Restoration Program: the program that houses the Voluntary Cleanup Program and the State Superfund Program.
- Land Restoration Program project site mapping: MDE's map of its cleanup project sites.
- Land Restoration Program resources and statistics: fact sheets by county, program reports, and MDE's glossary of the codes beside the entries.
- Residential heating oil tanks: which home heating oil tanks the Oil Control Program regulates.
- Emergency Preparedness and Response: how spills and releases are reported.
- Open MDE: MDE's page of links to complaint, inspection, violation, enforcement and permit data.
One agency
The pages read for this section are MDE's. They also mention a program of another Maryland department: MDE says its Voluntary Cleanup Program works with the Brownfields Revitalization Incentive Program, which the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development administers. This handbook has no page on that program.
Searches MDE provides
MDE's pages link several search tools. Each is described on the page of its own program, and the pages read do not say that one of them covers another program's records.
- The Oil Control Program's UST Facility Summary Report searches its underground storage tank registration database.
- The Oil Control Program's Case Information Search looks up a case by address or other identifying information.
- The Land Restoration Program's LRP-MAP shows its project sites.
- The Open MDE page links data on complaints, inspections, violations, enforcement actions and permits.
Getting a file from MDE
A listing says a record exists. The reports and letters are in the file. MDE's Oil Control Program page on remediation sites says complete program files can be requested through the Public Information Act.
MDE's Public Information Act page gives these steps:
- MDE says you might not need a formal request, and gives 410-537-3000 for a call first.
- MDE's page links Submit a Request for filing one. MDE asks that you not submit requests by email, and says a request might take 30 days to process.
- MDE asks you to identify the records: the type of record, the facility name, the site address with zip code, the subject area, the date, the permit number if known, and the originator.
- When MDE finds records, it notifies you by mail, and you then contact the program's liaison to schedule a file review. MDE says its files are mostly working files and walk-in requests cannot be accommodated. Whenever possible, records are provided in electronic format.
- MDE says fees are generally limited to direct document search, review and duplication, and that it waives charges for the first two hours of search time. It notifies the requester if fees are likely to exceed $25.
The Public Information Act requests page has more.
Sources
Maryland Department of the Environment pages, read October 8, 2026. The pages show no modified date.