Greg Dunn (IL EPA), Tom Fox (CO DOPS), and Tom Schruben (US EPA OUST) will provide an overview of the ongoing work of the Moving Sites to Closure (MStC) Task Group, which is developing an ASTM standard of best practices for bringing petroleum UST release corrective actions to closure. They will discuss what we have learned in the process of cleaning up 500,000 UST releases, the results of the survey on State corrective action programs that ASTSWMO conducted last year, and some of the alternative closure criteria that are included in the draft MStC standard.
Tanks
UST Common Compliance Violations Reports
The UST Task Force solicited information from all States in an effort to determine which violations are most often encountered during UST compliance inspections and other verification activities. The intent of this report is to provide a national perspective with regard to which UST violations are discovered in greatest frequency and may require additional attention. The data could impact where States allocate resources and how they perform onsite UST inspections, where the regulated community can best allocate their resources to improve compliance, and future decisions regarding the long-term direction of State and federal programs.
The UST Task Force plans to update these reports on a biennial basis to identify any trends across the UST programs.
UST Common Compliance Violations Report – FY 2018
UST Common Compliance Violations Report – FY 2014
UST Common Compliance Violations Report – FY 2012
2023 Sustainability of State Financial Assurance Funds for the Underground Storage Tank Programs
The Financial Responsibility Task Force completed a document that presents emerging trends within the U.S. and Territories that are or will impact funding to State programs responsible for regulating and managing USTs. The Task Force identified four trends: transition from gasoline to alternative energy fuels; changes in how the public uses transportation; the future of retail gas stations; and political changes impacting funding State UST programs. The final output was a paper that summarizes the Task Force’s research and provides commentary on policy choices that States may consider in the coming years with a focus on UST program revenue, cleanup of UST releases, and aging UST system infrastructure. Considering the complexity of these issues and the potential for significant impact on state UST programs, most particularly state financial assurance funds, the ASTSWMO Tanks Subcommittee and the Financial Responsibility Task Force request that the EPA Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST) provide a more detailed analysis of the trends identified.
Comparing EPA UST Regulations and NFPA Fire Codes
This document provides UST managers a breakdown of where EPA’s Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST) UST Regulations and the National Fire Protection Association Fire codes are aligned/misaligned. Most US states adopt NFPA 30 (Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code) and 30A (Code for Motor Fuel Dispensing Facilities and Repair Garages) to include the IFC, but very few of those states enforce or write UST regulatory orders pertaining to Fire Codes. When enforcing, or trying to enforce a particular issue, state UST programs may not be aware of what NFPA Fire Codes include, so this document can be used by tank owners or legislatures so as to not encounter issues when creating legislature/regulations.
ASTSWMO Letter to Federal Funding for the Underground Storage Tank (UST) Programs
Description: In this letter, the Association of States and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO) respectfully requests that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Underground Storage Tanks (EPA OUST) address the decline in federal funding to State and Territorial (State) underground storage tank (UST) programs. The funding provided currently does not meet the necessary level for the effective implementation of. State UST programs. Since fiscal year (FY) 2013, the overall level of extramural funding for the UST release prevention and cleanup programs has decreased with no adjustment for the increase in regulatory requirements or inflation. A summary of these trends is provided in the letter.
Leaking UST Cleanup Compilation Map
The national UST program has cleaned up over 505,000 leaking UST (LUST) releases in its history, and approximately 60,000 LUST releases remain as of March 2022.
The ASTSWMO LUST Task Force has compiled information and lessons learned from across the nation for several factors that affect cleanup as a resource for States and Territories to help address the remaining LUST releases.
2021 Annual State Fund Survey/Tanks Update
The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, in partnership with ASTSWMO, conducts a survey of all State Financial Assurance Fund programs and provides results on their design characteristics, funding, and fund activity each year. Summary and results from 2021 are provided below.
Note: The 2021 Survey tables are the result of an abridged version of the State Fund Survey that differs from the surveys sent in recent years. ASTSWMO is in the process of updating the data collection and reporting processes to create a new “Annual Tanks Update,” which will include information from release prevention, remediation, and Fund and financial assurance programs. The new project will replace the Annual State Fund Survey
Summary
Abridged Annual Tanks Update – 2021
For archives of previous State Fund Surveys visit the Annual State Fund Survey Archives page.
Webinar – ASTSWMO and Tanks Subcommittee 101
Are you interested in learning more about ASTSWMO’s organization including our mission, membership, and activities? What about the mission and goals of the Tanks Subcommittee? This webinar provides an introduction to the Association – our structure what we do, who we represent – and information about the Tanks Subcommittee including their membership, activities, and benefits of participating on an active Task Force.
2021 ASTSWMO Annual Meeting Presentations
Presentations
UST Open Bermed Containment Systems at Retail Fueling Facilities
This position paper addresses open bermed containment systems at commercial retail fuel facilities that are used to meet the spill prevention equipment requirements for underground storage tanks (USTs) outlined in 40 CFR 280.20(c), and replaces ASTSWMO’s July 2016 position on these systems. The new document clarifies that ASTSWMO’s position addresses open bermed containment systems at retail fueling facilities, includes additional details about the construction and design of spill buckets vs open bermed containment systems, and new and updated references and resources.