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Tennessee environmental records for a Phase I ESA

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Tennessee programs

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation 20

Tennessee environmental records for a Phase I ESA

This section is written from the pages of one state agency, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). Its Division of Underground Storage Tanks regulates petroleum underground storage tanks, and its mission includes remediating existing contamination from them. Its Division of Land Protection, formed by the merger of the Division of Remediation and the Division of Solid Waste Management, runs the cleanup, solid waste and hazardous waste programs. This page maps each kind of record ASTM E1527-21 asks for to the Tennessee program behind it, and links a page on each program.

The standard record types, in Tennessee

ASTM record type Tennessee program Agency
State Superfund equivalent List of Inactive Hazardous Substance Sites, which TDEC also calls the Promulgated List. The wider list of cleanup sites is on the Division of Remediation sites page. TDEC
Landfills and solid waste sites Landfill permits. Transfer stations, processing facilities and convenience centers are on the Solid Waste Permit-By-Rule page. TDEC
Leaking storage tanks Underground storage tank releases TDEC
Registered storage tanks Underground storage tank notifications TDEC
State hazardous waste facilities No single Tennessee list is paired here. The Tennessee records that bear on it are hazardous waste notifications, Hazardous Waste Management Permits and RCRA Corrective Action. TDEC
Institutional and engineering controls No registry is paired here. TDEC's instrument is the Notice of Land Use Restriction, and the pages read name no list of them. TDEC
Voluntary cleanup sites Brownfield Voluntary Cleanup Oversight and Assistance Program TDEC
Brownfields sites No separate brownfields list is named on the pages read. The voluntary program above is TDEC's brownfields program, and the state grant is on the Brownfield Redevelopment Area Grant page. TDEC

How far each search reaches is on the ASTM search distances page.

Other Tennessee records worth reading

These are not on ASTM's standard list, but each answers a question a Tennessee Phase I runs into.

One agency, several divisions

The names are in motion. TDEC says the Division of Remediation and the Division of Solid Waste Management have merged to form the Division of Land Protection, and that its website will be updated in the coming months. Its pages still use the old division names beside the new branch names, the Remediation Branch and the Waste Management Branch. A letter or a listing may carry either name for the same office.

Tanks sit in a separate division, and only some tanks. The Division of Underground Storage Tanks regulates petroleum underground storage tanks. It says non-petroleum underground tanks are regulated by US EPA in Atlanta and that aboveground storage tanks are not regulated by the Division. On the same page it names other agencies to contact for information: the State Fire Marshal's Office, the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and local fire and codes departments.

TDEC's field office page lists eight Environmental Field Offices: Chattanooga, Columbia, Cookeville, Jackson, Johnson City, Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville. TDEC says the nearest one should be the starting point for any environmental question, concern or complaint, and that its toll free number, 1-888-891-TDEC (8332), forwards a caller to the appropriate office. Landfill permit applications and tank closure applications go to the field office, so ask the field office as well as the central office in Nashville.

Spills are reported to another agency first. TDEC says spills in Tennessee are to be reported to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, at 1-800-262-3300, which then notifies other state agencies.

Searches that cross TDEC's programs

TDEC's Data and Map Viewers page gathers its public search tools. TDEC says the Dataviewers pull information from the same consolidated databases its staff use, and reflect overnight updates, so a change made to the database should show the next day. The viewers a Phase I uses most:

Tank data is published differently. The Division of Underground Storage Tanks posts its facility, owner, compartment, environmental activity and reimbursement data as files on its UST Data and Reports page, updated monthly.

For help inside a viewer, TDEC gives its Help Desk at BG-Help_Desk@tn.gov or (615) 532-0287.

Getting a file from TDEC

A listing says a record exists. The reports and letters are in the file.

  • TDEC's Public Records Request page is the department's request route. The Remediation Branch says requests for public records should be made through the TDEC Records Request form, and adds that some files are available on its Data Viewer. The page links the Tennessee Open Records Requests Rule, Rule 400-01-01.
  • For tank files, the Division of Underground Storage Tanks says to call it at (615) 532-0945 and schedule a file review appointment for site history, past tank owners, more detailed environmental issues, compliance matters and reimbursement of releases.
  • TDEC's contact page gives these division lines: Remediation at (615) 532-0900, Solid and Hazardous Waste at (615) 532-0780, Underground Storage Tanks at (615) 532-0945 and Water Resources at (615) 532-0625.

The pages read do not state a fee or a response time for a records request.

Sources

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation pages, read October 7, 2026:

Maintained by Barrow. General reference only, not legal or professional advice. Barrow is not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency. See how Barrow drafts the report