Barrow Logo Barrow EP Handbook

Tennessee

Notice of Land Use Restriction (NLUR)

Agency Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation

Tennessee Notice of Land Use Restriction (NLUR)

A Notice of Land Use Restriction (NLUR) is the instrument the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) names for restricting the future use of a property where contamination has been addressed under its Remediation Branch. TDEC's pages describe it inside other programs. The pages read do not give it a page or a list of its own.

In a Phase I ESA

An NLUR is a restriction on land use, the kind of record ASTM E1527-21 lists under state institutional and engineering control registries. The general reading of a control listing is on the State/Tribal Institutional and Engineering Control Registries page. The pages read name no Tennessee registry of these notices, so this handbook pairs no list with that record type. The notice has to be found through the site's file and the land records.

  • It comes out of a voluntary agreement. TDEC lists implementation of a Notice of Land Use Restrictions, to restrict future use of the property, among the actions a participant may agree to in the Brownfield Voluntary Cleanup Oversight and Assistance Program. The program's resources page links a template for the notice.
  • It is recorded. TDEC's Tennessee Clean page names the recording of a Notice of Land Use Restriction among the steps left at one of its sites. The pages read do not say where a notice is recorded, so search the land title records for the property as well as asking TDEC.
  • It can be amended. The voluntary program's resources page also links a Notice of Land Use Restriction Amendment template. Ask whether a notice has been amended, and read the latest version.
  • It can come at the end of a cleanup. TDEC's state brownfield grant has a Remedial Closure category that funds post-remedial monitoring to achieve NFA or NLUR letters. When a site is described as closed, ask whether the closure came with a notice.

The pages read do not list the kinds of restriction a notice may carry, and they do not describe a register of engineering controls. Two other items in a voluntary program file are worth asking about with it: a Soil Management Plan to guide redevelopment, and vapor mitigation, for which TDEC posts guidance for enrolled sites.

Where to look a site up

There is no list to search on the pages read. Find the site first, then the notice:

Getting the file

The Remediation Branch says to request specific site files with TDEC's Public Records Request form. Ask for the recorded notice and any amendment, and for the agreement that required it. The branch's central office is at (615) 532-0900 and Division.Remediation@tn.gov.

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