Mississippi
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Division
The Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Division (ECED) of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) implements and oversees the majority of MDEQ's compliance and enforcement programs. MDEQ says ECED is responsible for regulating over 10,000 sites for compliance with air and water permits and regulations, and that when a site fails to comply, appropriate enforcement action is taken to promptly return the site to compliance.
In a Phase I ESA
ASTM E1527-21 does not name state inspection or enforcement records among its standard record sources. For a permitted facility on or next to the property, ask for its inspection and enforcement history all the same. Four details from MDEQ's pages shape the search.
- Air and water here, waste in the Waste Division. MDEQ says compliance and enforcement for hazardous and nonhazardous waste permits and regulations is carried out by the Waste Division. For a waste facility, see the Hazardous Waste Management Program and Solid waste facilities.
- Formal actions go to one branch. ECED's Enforcement Branch is responsible for all air and water formal enforcement actions referred by ECED branches, develops penalty calculations, conducts Administrative Conferences with branch staff as required, and drafts and finalizes Agreed Orders for issuance. Where a facility had a formal enforcement action, ask whether an Agreed Order was issued.
- Inspections are usually unannounced. MDEQ says inspections performed by ECED are typically unannounced.
- Permits sit in another division. MDEQ's Environmental Permits Division implements and oversees most of MDEQ's permitting programs and supports ECED in regulating permitted facilities. It posts notices of draft permits on enSearch Online.
MDEQ says ECED was reorganized in 2017. Before then it had nine branches distributed by SIC code; it now has six single media branches, an Air Program Manager, a Support Branch and an Enforcement Branch.
Where to look a site up
- ECED's page links enSearch Online, a Complaint Status Check and a Compliance Inspections search, along with EPA's ECHO quick start guide.
- The Environmental Permits Division links Issued Permits and Online Public Notices on enSearch Online, which it says provides access to public information about permitted facilities.
- ECED's page links its points of contact.
Getting the file
For a permit at public notice, the Environmental Permits Division says to request additional documents from its Public Records Request Officer. MDEQ's route is a written public records request that names the facility, the city and county where it is located, and the type of information wanted; see Public records requests.
Sources
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality pages, read October 12, 2026, no modified date shown: