Maryland
Voluntary Cleanup Program
The Maryland Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP) is administered by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) Land and Materials Administration, Land Restoration Program. MDE says the legislature established it in 1997 and that it gives state oversight to the voluntary cleanup of properties contaminated with hazardous substances. MDE's Land Restoration Program page adds that the program enables eligible purchasers of property to substantially limit liability for past contamination before purchasing it.
In a Phase I ESA
VCP sites are the Maryland form of the state voluntary cleanup records that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source. The general reading of a voluntary cleanup listing is on the VCP page. Four details from MDE's page shape how to read one.
- An application is not a cleanup. MDE's page describes the application, the public notice and the guidance, and separately the determinations that close a project: a Certificate of Completion (COC) or a No Further Requirements Determination (NFRD). It also links a guide on withdrawing from the program before cleanup is completed. Check which stage a site reached.
- The federal side. MDE says it and EPA Region III signed a Memorandum of Agreement. Under it, EPA considers eligible properties in Maryland's VCP to be of "no federal interest" once MDE issues an NFRD or COC, with a few limited exceptions outlined in the agreement.
- Buyer status. MDE says that if you purchase a Brownfield property without first applying for Expedited Inculpable Person (EX-IP) status or the VCP, you may be considered a Responsible Party and be ineligible for EPA grants such as cleanup grants. MDE's page describes an EX-IP request, with a $2,000 fee and an Inculpable Person Affidavit, and links a fact sheet on Inculpable Person and Responsible Person status.
- Public notice. MDE says that on submitting an application, the applicant shall post notice at the property.
MDE's page links guidance documents on eligible and ineligible properties and applicants, Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments, response action plans, cleanup criteria, determinations, and land use control compliance. It describes the Phase I guidance as setting standards for the preliminary site history and hazard identification required at intake. This handbook did not read those documents.
MDE says the initial application fee is $10,000 and that later applications for contiguous properties, EX-IP status, COCs and NFRDs are $2,000 each.
Where to look a site up
- MDE's page says VCP sites can be located on the Land Restoration Program's Project Site Map, LRP-MAP. See the project site mapping page.
- MDE says it maintains a Notice of Current VCP Applicants List, which the page links as a PDF. This handbook did not read it.
- MDE's resources and statistics page has a fact sheet list by county and an MDE glossary code for properties that have applied to, are in, or have completed the VCP.
- Questions go to the Voluntary Cleanup Program at 410-537-3493.
Getting the file
The page read does not describe a records request route for VCP files. MDE's Public Information Act requests page covers requests for MDE records in general.
Sources
Maryland Department of the Environment pages, read October 8, 2026. The pages show no modified date.