Landfill Closure Program

The Landfill Closure Program is administered by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management's (DEM) Office of Land Revitalization and Sustainable Materials Management. DEM says it addresses inactive or abandoned solid waste landfills that ceased operation (stopped accepting waste) prior to April 1992 and have not received a final Certificate of Closure from DEM or the Department of Health (RIDOH). Its goal is to close these sites in a combined process that takes into account both the Remediation Regulations and the Solid Waste Regulations.

In a Phase I ESA

DEM's list of inactive landfill and dump sites is the Rhode Island form of the state landfill and solid waste disposal site records that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source. The general reading of a landfill listing is on the landfills and solid waste page. Permitted waste facilities that are active or were formerly permitted, other than closed landfills, are on separate lists; see the Waste Facilities Management Program.

Four Rhode Island details shape how to read the list.

• It holds dumps that were never licensed. DEM says the list contains both formerly permitted landfills that are closed and dumps that were never licensed by the Department.
• More than one program may have a site. DEM says sites on the list may fall under the jurisdiction of one or more of these programs: Superfund, Site Remediation, the Landfill Closure Program, Department of Defense and/or Pre-Remedial. A site may have files in more than one of them, so ask for each.
• The coordinates are not checked in the field. DEM says the list includes latitude and longitude data that has not been field verified. Confirm a landfill's location from the file before measuring its distance from the property.
• Closure has a certificate. The program covers landfills without a final Certificate of Closure from DEM or RIDOH. For a closed landfill near the property, ask whether a certificate was issued and by which agency.

The rules DEM lists for the program are the Rules and Regulations for Solid Waste Management Facilities and Organic Waste Management Facilities (250-RICR-140-05-1), Solid Waste Regulations No. 2 for solid waste landfills (250-RICR-140-05-2), and the Remediation Regulations (250-RICR-140-30-1). The program page also links DEM's Closure Policy for Inactive or Abandoned Solid Waste Landfills, which this handbook did not open.

Where to look a site up

• The Inactive Landfill & Dump Sites list is posted as a PDF and an Excel file on DEM's Site Inventories page, which the program page links as its list of landfill closure sites. This handbook did not open the files. DEM says its site lists are current as of the date indicated and may change frequently.
• The Landfill Closure Program page links pages on specific landfill closures.

Getting the file

DEM's File Reviews page lists Waste (National Priorities List and landfills) among the areas it coordinates; see DEM File Reviews. Submit DEM's Request to Inspect and/or Copy Public Records form. DEM says file reviews are scheduled within 10 business days after the request is received, and gives the mailbox Dem.filereview@dem.ri.gov to schedule one.

Sources

Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management pages, read October 13, 2026:

• Landfill Closure Program, last modified August 21, 2026.
• Office of Land Revitalization and Sustainable Materials Management Site Inventories, last modified June 5, 2026.
• DEM File Reviews, last modified September 24, 2026.