Maryland
Brownfield Master Inventory
The Brownfield Master Inventory (BMI) is a list kept by the Land Restoration Program (LRP) of the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), which also spells it Brownfields Master Inventory. MDE's Brownfields page says section 7-223(1) of the Environment Article requires MDE to compile a master list of the sites where it has reason to believe, or has been told, that controlled hazardous substances may be present. It says the State Master List and the Non-Master List served that purpose in the past, and that the LRP has combined sites from those lists into the BMI.
In a Phase I ESA
This handbook reads the BMI as the Maryland form of the state Superfund equivalent records that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source, because of what MDE's Brownfields page says of it (above) and because MDE's Land Restoration Program page says the Controlled Hazardous Substance Enforcement Division, also known as the State Superfund Program, oversees remediation with primary emphasis on the BMI. The pages read do not call the BMI a Superfund list, so the pairing is this handbook's reading. The general reading of that listing is on the state Superfund equivalent page.
- One list from two. MDE's glossary describes the Non-Master List as including sites under investigation, or investigated before, that are not on the State Master List. So check the BMI even for a site that an older reference says is not on the State Master List.
- Two descriptions. The Brownfields page presents the BMI in its paragraph on the statute's master list of sites where controlled hazardous substances may be present. MDE's Land Restoration Program page describes the BMI as listing sites that are known, or have been reported, to be contaminated by hazardous waste. The pages read do not say what an entry in the reports shows; read the site's fact sheet or the file.
- Active and archived. MDE says the LRP has created county reports for active sites and for archived sites, which it calls closed. An archived site is still a BMI site. Read how it was closed before setting it aside.
- A brownfield name, and a page that says there is no Brownfields list. MDE's Brownfields page says MDE believes the approach is consistent with State and federal law, and gives as an example CERCLA's definition of a brownfield site, which it calls very broad. MDE's resources page says MDE has not developed a Brownfields list, and that the State Master List, which it calls the only list MDE maintains, is not to be taken as a list of Brownfields. The two pages disagree, so this handbook pairs no Maryland list with the state brownfields record type. See the Brownfields page.
What the record shows
MDE says the county reports will be updated twice a year, and that they link to fact sheets, which MDE's resources page says typically give a site's location, operational history, environmental actions and current status. This handbook did not read the reports, which are PDF files.
The two MDE pages link different copies of the reports. The file names of those on the Brownfields page end in 10.15.25; those on the resources page, as read on October 8, 2026, end in 6.30.26. MDE does not say what the dates in the file names mean. Open both and check which is more recent.
Where to look a site up
- MDE's Brownfields page links a Report of Active BMI Sites and a Report of Archived BMI Sites.
- The fact sheets are listed by county on the resources and statistics page, where some entries carry codes such as SML.
- LRP-MAP is the LRP's map of its project sites. The pages read do not say whether it shows every BMI site. See the project site mapping page.
- For questions about the BMI list, MDE gives 410-537-3493 and links an email contact.
Getting the file
The pages read do not describe a records request route specific to BMI sites. MDE's Public Information Act requests page covers requests for MDE records in general.
Sources
Maryland Department of the Environment pages, read October 15, 2026, no modified date shown:
Maryland Department of the Environment pages, read October 8, 2026, no modified date shown: