This Practice Guide is the first of a series to be produced by the University of Louisville Environmental Finance Center for use by local officials and staff. The series is intended to provide tools for trainers that can be used to better inform local elected officials and government/nonprofit agency staff about environmental planning issues and the economic and financial implications of the different policy choices facing state and local governments. The Practice Guide reviews three different types of institutional controls (deed notices, deed restrictions, and environmental easements) that may be used to make sure that the future uses are consistent with the flexible cleanup standards permitted and to assure that engineering controls are maintained over time.