Background
Highlights Of The
Report
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
Washington, DC 20460
(OS-420WF)
EPA510-F-93-012
March 1993
Office of Underground Storage Tanks
Environmental
Fact Sheet
EPA Releases Report To
House Appropriations Committee
On The Leaking Underground
Storage Tank Program
Subtitle I of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act requires the development
and implementation of a comprehensive regulatory program for underground storage
tank (UST) systems. EPA published final technical and state program approval
regulations for USTs containing regulated substances on September 23,1988, and
financial responsibility regulations on October 26,1988. EPA's Office of Under-
ground Storage Tanks (OUST) manages the program to implement these regulations.
In August 1992, the House Appropriations Committee asked EPA to provide a report
on "the extent of the underground storage tanks problem, the status of EPA's efforts,
and the costs involved in remedying this problem." The Agency prepared a report to
respond directly to the Committee's request and submitted it to the House Appropria-
tions Committee on March 9, 1993. The report provides an overview of the regulatory
program as of the end of fiscal year 1992 and includes key aspects of implementation,
cleanup costs and EPA's efforts to control them, and program needs and EPA's plans
to meet them.
• As of 1992, about 1.6 million petroleum underground storage tanks and 37,000
hazardous substance tanks are subject to the federal regulations. EPA estimates
that about 20 percent of the regulated 1.6 million petroleum USTs are leaking.
• \Vhen petroleum or hazardous substance tanks leak, the products they release can
contaminate surface and groundwater, cause fire and explosions, and expose
people to substances (e.g., benzene, a carcinogen) that cause adverse health
effects.
• Confirmed releases are being reported at a rate of about 1,000 per week; state
workers are overseeing up to 400 cases at a time. EPA estimates that the number
of releases will level off at about 320,000 releases during fiscal year 1995 and then
will increase at a slower rate.
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Conclusions
Contact
• With current resources available for state oversight of the responsible party
cleanups and for state-lead sites, states and responsible parties are initiating
cleanups at about 36,000 sites per year and completing cleanups at about
16,000 sites per year. EPA's LUST Trust Fund was created to assist states in
the cleanup of leaking USTs. Of the $900 million collected in the fund, $400
million has been appropriated.
• State or local agency cleanup program staff oversee increasing caseloads of
active cleanups, usually conducted by responsible parties. Responsible parties
conduct approximately 97 percent of all leaking UST cleanups.
• Costs of remediating or cleaning up releases can vary greatly and be influenced
by several factors, including the volume of the release, the extent of contamina-
tion, geologic characteristics, level of cleanup required, and state reporting
requirements.
• Costs of remediating leaking USTs can generally be grouped into two cost
classes: Sites with soil contamination and sites with groundwater contamina-
tion. The costs for remediating sites with soil contamination generally vary
between $10,000 and $125,000. Costs for remediating sites with groundwater
contamination can range from $100,000 to over $1 million, depending upon the
extent of contamination.
The increasing backlog of cleanups, the high costs of cleanups, limited state and
federal funds, and concern about small owners and operators having the funds to
pay for cleanups make it essential to identify opportunities for reducing costs and
strejimlining corrective action processes. One of OUST's top priorities is assisting
states in streamlining their corrective action programs and promoting innovative site
investigations and cleanup technologies.
It is also essential for the UST program to focus on activities to prevent future
releases and to detect ongoing releases as early as possible. Consequently, enforce-
ment of the technical requirements of the prevention program and the approval of
state programs will continue to be priorities for the UST program.
For additional information on the federal UST requirements or to obtain a copy of
the report, contact EPA's RCRA Hotline, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30
p.m. EST. The national toll-free number is 800 424-9346; for the hearing impaired,
the number is TDD 800 553-7672. In Washington, DC, the number is 703 920-
9810.
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