United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Washington DC 20460
April 1985
EPA/530-SW-85-009
The law specifies that the leak
detection/prevention and corrective action
regulations must require owners/operators of
underground storage tanks to:
Have methods for detecting releases.
Keep records of the methods.
Take corrective action when leaks occur.
Report leaks and corrective actions taken.
Provide for proper closure of tanks.
Provide evidence as EPA deems necessary, of
financial responsibility for taking corrective action
and compensating third parties for injury or
damages from sudden or nonsudden releases.
States may finance corrective action and
compensation programs by a fee on tank owners
and operators.
Requirements for cleaning up tanks are expected
to be one of the most significant costs imposed by
the new law.
State Programs
Several states already have or are developing
regulatory programs for underground storage
tanks. The new law is designed to avoid interfering
with those state programs and to encourage other
states to press ahead with control programs. States
or local agencies will be receiving the notifications
described earlier. By May 1987, states may apply to
EPA for authorization to operate a LUST program.
The state program may cover petroleum tanks or
hazardous substance tanks or both. State programs
must include all the regulatory elements of the
federal program and provide for adequate
enforcement. After a l-to-3 year grace period, state
requirements must be no less stringent than
federal requirements.
Inspection
and Enforcement
Federal and state personnel are authorized to:
Request pertinent information from tank owners.
Inspect and sample tanks.
Monitor and test tanks and surrounding soils,
air, surface water, and ground water.
Federal enforcement is also included in the new
law. EPA may issue compliance orders for any
violation of the LUST statute or regulations.
Offenders are subject to civil penalties of up to
$10,000 per tank for each day of violation. Criminal
penalties are not authorized.
* U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1985556-513/8690
r/EPA Leaking
Underground
Storage Tanks
(LUST)
The New RCRA
Requirements
On November 8, 1984, amendments were enacted
strengthening the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA), the federal law protecting
human health and the environment from improper
waste management practices. This new
legislationthe Hazardous and Solid Waste
Amendments of 1984makes many changes in the
national program that regulates hazardous waste
from the time it is generated to its final disposition.
The program is administered by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through its
Office of Solid Waste.
One of the New RCRA provisions calls for a
program to control and prevent leaking
underground storage tanks (LUST). There are from
three to five million underground storage tanks in
the United States that contain hazardous
substances or petroleum products. An estimated
100,000 tanks are presently leaking, and another
350,000 are expected to leak within the next 5
years.
The LUST program breaks new ground in that,
for the first time, RCRA applies to storage of
products as well as wastes. Under a new Subtitle I,
RCRA now regulates underground tank storage of
all petroleum products (including gasoline and
crude oil) and any substance defined as hazardous
under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (the
"Superfund" law), which deals with the cleanup of
abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.
"Underground storage tank" is defined as any tank
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with at least 10 percent of its volume buried below
ground, including any pipes attached to the tank.
Thus, above-ground tanks with extensive
underground piping may be regulated under the
new law.
EPA's LUST program does not apply to:
Tanks holding a hazardous waste regulated under
the RCRA hazardous waste program (Subtitle C)
Farm and residential tanks holding less than
1,100 gallons of motor fuel
On-site tanks storing heating oil
Septic tanks
Pipelines regulated under other laws
Systems for collecting storm water and
wastewater
Flow-through process tanks
Liquid traps or associated gathering lines related
to operations in the oil and natural gas industry.
The LUST program bans the installation of
unprotected tanks, initiates a tank notification
program, sets federal technical standards for all
tanks, coordinates federal and state efforts, and
provides for federal inspection and enforcement.
Ban On New Tanks
Without Corrosion Protection
A provision banning underground installation of
unprotected new tanks automatically goes into
effect on May 7, 1985. After that, no person may
install an underground storage tank unless:
It will prevent releases of the stored substances
due to corrosion or structural failure for the life of
the tank.
and
It is cathodically protected against corrosion; or
constructed of noncorrosive material; or steel clad
with noncorrosive material; or designed to prevent
the release or threatened release of the stored
substances.
and
The material used in the construction or lining of
the tank is compatible with the substance to be
stored.
The maximum penalty is $10,000 per tank for
each day this provision is violated.
Notification
The new law calls for a notification program that
will affect several million tank owners. The
notification program requires actions by
U,S. Environmental Protection /V?e^v
distributors of regulated substances and by owners
of tanks taken out of operation within the past 10
years but still in the groundas well as owners of
operational tanks. Notification must be made to
designated state or local agencies, not to EPA.
The major steps of the notification program and
their implementation schedule are:
By May 1985, state Governors must designate the
state or local agency that will receive the
notifications.
By November 1985, EPA must prescribe the form
of the notice.
By May 1986, owners of existing underground
storage tanks must notify the state or local agency
of each tank's age, size, type, location, and uses.
By May 1986, owners of underground storage
tanks taken out of operation after January 1, 1974,
but still in the ground, must notify the state of
local agency of each tank's age, date taken out of
operation, size, type, location, and contents (type
and quantity of substance left in the tank).
After May 1986, owners of newly installed
underground storage tanks must notify the state or
local agency within 30 days after installation.
Within 30 days of the date on which EPA
prescribes the notification form (and for 18 months
thereafter), any person who deposits regulated
substances in an underground storage tank must
inform the tank owner of the requirement to notify
the state or local agency.
Within 30 days of the date on which EPA
issues new tank regulations, sellers of tanks
must notify purchasers of the need to notify the
state or local agency.
Regulatory Program
Under new RCRA provisions, EPA must develop and
promulgate performance standards for new tanks,
as well as standards covering leak detection, leak
prevention, and corrective action for both new and
existing underground storage tanks. The schedules
are different for petroleum tanks and hazardous
chemicals tanks.
Petroleum
Hazardous
Chemicals
Standards for new tanks February 1987 August 1987
Regulation concerning leak February 1987 August 1988
detection/prevention and
corrective action
Study and report to
Congress
November
1985
November
1987
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