The Pennsylvania Activity and Use Limitation (PA AUL) Registry website provides the public with information on the properties within Pennsylvania which have Activity and Use Limitations (AULs) that may or may not have an environmental covenant (EC), a deed restriction or post remediation care plan associated with the AULs. Searches for properties with AULs can be done using the map on the website or by searches on address, zip code, county or other criteria. Once a property of interest has been located it is possible to view any AUL documents that have been associated to that property.
The website has a map and a number of querying tools that allow users to get information on properties with Activity and Use Limitations (AULs). Once you have found a property that you are interested in you will be able to see details about that property and look at any AUL documents, such as covenants, that have been associated to that property.
You can look for properties that have AULs by searching on a specific location using the map or by searching on the name of County, or a Municipality within a county, an address, or a zip code, as well as other more specific pieces of information.
There are 2 options for searching when you know an address.
You can select the "Search for Activity and Use Limitation" by clicking on this bar on the left side of the website. Once you have clicked on it you will see several different options for doing a search. Pick the selection that matches the information that you want to search on. For instance, if you want to see a list of AUL locations within a zip code, you would click on "by Zip Code" button and then enter the desired zip code in the space on the pop-up box. Then you would click on the "Find Addresses with AULs" button and a pop-up box will display any addresses with AULs using that zip code. Select the address you are interested in by clicking on it from the drop down list then click on "Get AUL" to see the AUL information for that address and the location on the map.
The second option is to click on the "Locate on Map" on the left side of the website. Once you have clicked on this choice you will see an option that says, "Address". When you click on this option a pop-up box will open that allows you to enter an address (Street, City, State and zipcode). When you have entered your information, click on the "locate" box. You may get an additional box showing possible matches for the address for you to choose from. If you do get a list of "Address Candidates" select the address that most closely matches the address you are interested in. The map display will change to show you the location of the address that you wanted if a match is found.
To search using the map you will be using the map tools that are available above the map. The magnifying glass with a "+" sign will zoom you closer to a point on the map. The magnifying glass with a - sign will zoom you out so that you can see more of the map. The pan tool, which looks like a hand, allows you to move the map around without zooming in or out.
To look at a specific area more closely, click on the magnifying glass with a + sign. Use your mouse to click on the map and draw a square around the area you are interested in. You can do this as many times as you need to. If you want to go back to a map showing the whole state, click on the globe in the map tools. You can get a brief description for each of map tools by putting the arrow, moved by your mouse, on top of the tool icon.
The buffer tools are a way of finding out if there are any AUL properties within a defined distance of a location you are interested in. If you want to see if there are any AUL properties within a county, you can select "Buffer a County" under the Buffer tools on the left side of the PA AUL Registry website. You will need to enter a buffer distance and select a county. If you enter 1 mile and Dauphin County you will see a map showing all the AUL properties that are in or within 1 mile of the boundaries of Dauphin County.
The Point, Line and Polygon buffer tools allow you to create a point, line or polygon on the map which can be buffered. If you want to see on the map all the AUL properties that are within 2 miles of your house you would zoom and pan on the map until you find the location of your house; select Buffer a Point; enter a 2 in the Buffer Distance space and then click on the map on the location of your house.
To see more information about an AUL location on the map, you will use the "Identify" tool from the map tools that are above the map. The identify tool is selected by clicking on the "i" in the blue circle icon. Once you have selected the identify tool by clicking on the "i" icon, you will click on the AUL symbol on the map for the location in which you are interested. A pop-up box will appear with information about the selected AUL location. To see the address(es), Tax Parcel(s) or AUL document(s) associated with that location, you simply click on that button in the pop-up box for that information.
Mapping Utilities are some more specialized tools that can be used in the PA AUL Registry website. To learn more about each of them or to get more information for any of the tools and activities on the PA AUL Registry website, select the Help link under the Links tab on the left side of the website. By selecting this link you will get a window with more specific information on each of the tools on the PA AUL Registry website as well as more detailed step by step instructions and screen shots.
Under the Links tab on the left side of the website is a "Contact Us" link. If you click on this an email window should open that will send an email to DEP. If you do not get an email window, it may be that the computer you are using has not been properly configured to send emails from websites.