xvEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Office Of Solid Waste And. Emergency Response (5401G) Office Of Underground Storage Tanks Leak Detection Fact Sheet #1 EPA510-F-98-012 March 1998 Www.epa.gov)OUSTJ For Some USTs, Inventory Control "Expires" December 22,1998 "Installed with corrosion protection" means tank is made of coated and cathodically protected steel (such as sti-P3®), fiberglass, or steel that is clad or jacketed with a noncorrodible material. "Corrosion protection added" to tank means adding external cathodic protection, internal lining, or both. For some older underground storage tanks (USTs), December 22, 1998 marks the end of the use of inventory control and tank tightness testing to meet federal leak detection requirements. If your UST matches the description below, make sure you are ready to start new monthly monitoring leak detection by December 23, 1998. / This deadline affects your leak detection practices if your tank was , either installed with corrosion protection or had corrosion protection added before December 22, 1988. These USTs could temporarily meet federal leak detection requirements by using a combined method that includes both inventory controf and tank tightness testing. Similarly, many tanks of 551 to 2,000 gallons capacity could use a combined method that includes manual tank gauging and periodic tank tightness testing. Federal regulations limit the use of combined methods with these USTs until December 1998. For these USTs only, "temporary use" of the combined method ends December 22,1998. Starting December 23, 1998, these USTs must have monthly monitoring leak detection using such methods as interstitial monitoring, an automatic tank gauging system, vapor monitoring, groundwater monitoring, or statistical inventory reconciliation. See the table on the reverse side for minimum federal requirements. Leak Detection Fact Sheet #1 March 1998 Page 1 of 2 ------- For USTs Installed Or Upgraded Before December 22,1988 Questions Does tank have , corrosion protection (and, if so, when)? No No Yes (any time) Yes (on or before 12/22/88) Yes (after 12/22/88) Does piping have corrosion protection and does UST have spill and overfill protection? No Yes No Yes Yes Answers You can use inventory control plus tightness testing (or, if applicable, manual tank gauging plus tightness testing) Annually Through 12/22/98 Through 12/22/98 Through 12/22/98 -->• --> Every 5 years No No No Through 12/22/98 Until 10 years after tank has corrosion • protection Please note that you may need to begin monthly monitoring leak detection earlier than shown above, if the tank's upgrade was based on an alternative integrity assessment method (such as corrosion modeling or video inspection). Check with your implementing agency for requirements in your area. To find out how long USTs may be able to use the combined method of leak detection, check with your implementing agency for guidance. For information on contacting your implementing agency or to ask questions about UST requirements, call EPA's toll-free hotline at 1-800-424-9346 or visit our Web site at http://www.epa.gov/OUST/. Leak Detection Fact Sheet #1 March 1998 Page 2 of 2 ------- |