Common Underground Storage Tank Compliance Violations
Written by: Brian Pottebaum, Director of Training Services
Common UST Compliance Violations
Regulations usually evolve from preventable incidents that have negatively impacted human health or the environment. The intent with new or updated UST regulations is to guide behavior in a way to detect petroleum leaks quicker and reduce the overall severity and number of petroleum releases to the environment.
Routine UST compliance inspections are a regulatory requirement at existing UST facilities across the nation; In Iowa they are due within 2 years of new construction and then every 2 years thereafter.
These inspections are a great way to confirm system status and mitigate ongoing problems, specifically leaks, but the results can also be used to measure the success of various aspects of the UST program including enforcement and public outreach.
Several years ago, there was a national report published that summarized the most common UST compliance violations across the United States at that time (Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials, UST Common Compliance Violations Report – FY 2014, September 2016). The report’s intent was to provide a national perspective regarding which UST violations occur most frequently and may require additional attention. They identified eight general categories of violations that are typically recognized by most States:
- Release Detection
- Release Prevention
- Secondary Containment
- Financial Responsibility
- Operator Training
- Notification, Permit, and Fee Violations
- Not reporting or investigating suspected release
- Improper Temporary Closure
This report included inspection results from nearly 43,000 UST inspections that covered 31 states. From those inspections, the top five most frequent violations were identified. Following will be a summary of the top five violations and how they compare to our compliance inspection findings here in Iowa.
#5 Financial Responsibility – the UST owner or operator’s ability to demonstrate financial responsibility (FR) for the costs of corrective action and compensation of third parties (bodily injury and property damage) arising from releases of petroleum from their UST system. This violation included two main items; failure to comply with financial responsibility requirements and failure to provide financial responsibility. It is believed that this issue is increasing nationally because many of the state UST funds are ending and no longer being used as a financial mechanism. Although this problem occurs in Iowa occasionally, it has not ranked in the top ten violations since the compliance inspections started in 2007. Iowa did an outstanding job transitioning from a UST fund to other FR mechanisms, such as PMMIC insurance.
#4 Tank Release Detection – the ability to detect a release from any portion of the tank that routinely contains product. UST owners and operators must monitor their tanks at least once every 30 days. Additionally, this monitoring must be documented and available to the inspector upon request. Regulations specify a minimum of 12 months of this monitoring must be evaluated during a compliance inspection. This violation included two main items; failure to conduct monthly monitoring and release detection equipment not functional or improperly installed. Unfortunately this violation has been a perpetual problem nationally since the inauguration of the underground storage tank program. This problem is still prevalent in Iowa as well, and owners need to better educate themselves on the requirements and responsibilities of monitoring the tanks for leaks. Although this unfortunate oversight will not cause more leaks, it will allow undetected leaks to continue and result in more contamination and more expensive cleanup. Uneducated owners and operators are an unnecessary environmental risk. Review release detection requirements, or contact the regulatory agency if you are not clear on all the requirements.
#3 Spill Prevention – the ability to catch any spilled product before/during/after the delivery into the tank, i.e. spill bucket. The spill prevention equipment must be maintained, meaning they must be kept free of all liquid and debris as well as liquid tight. Periodic cleaning and inspections should be a part of routine maintenance. The presence of deficient spill prevention in the top five comes as no surprise to anyone. In fact, this violation has been the top individual violation at the facilities inspected in Iowa since the compliance inspections started in 2007. The majority of the violations in this category continue to be related to cleaning the basins to provide adequate capacity to capture spills during a fuel delivery. Spill buckets are only effective if they are maintained properly. When the container is full, it can’t continue to do its job. Spill buckets can be very effective in preventing environmental contamination; however, it is your job to maintain them properly. Spill buckets must be inspected and cleaned before and after every fuel delivery!
#2 Piping Release Detection – the ability to detect a release from any portion of the piping system that routinely contains product. UST owners and operators must periodically monitor their piping according to regulations. Additionally, this monitoring must be documented and available to the inspector upon request. Regulations specify a minimum of 12 months of this monitoring must be evaluated during a compliance inspection. This violation is very similar to the tank release detection scenario, and in some cases is lumped into the same category with the tanks because they both utilize the same method and equipment, such as secondary containment/interstice monitoring (SCIM) and statistical inventory reconciliation (SIR). Complete and thorough UST system release detection monitoring is needed to document your compliance, but more important is that you can detect a problem before it becomes a crippling financial strain.
#1 Operator Training – a newer regulation that requires each regulated UST facility to have designated Class A, B, and C operators and trained appropriately according to their assigned duties at the facility. These facilities must now have trained operators readily available to respond to suspected or confirmed releases, equipment shut-offs or failures, and other unusual operating conditions. All operators must maintain records (i.e. certificates) documenting that they received the appropriate training. That also means that these records must be readily available for review if requested by the regulatory agency, similar to the leak detection, cathodic protection, and financial responsibility records you are currently maintaining. This category contains violations related to failure to conduct periodic inspections, failure to post or provide copies of operator training documents at the site and failing to complete required training and State specific operator training violations. Operator training is being implemented and enforced differently in most states, meaning deadlines and requirements vary from state to state. Because this is a newer requirement with much confusion, it is understandable that this violation took the number one spot in the national survey.
Since the operator training requirement has been enforced as part of the Iowa UST compliance inspections in 2013, this violation started out as a relatively common problem. It has gotten better and worked its way out of the top ten, however it still needs more attention. Operator training and reoccurring training need to be a part of every UST operation. A well trained operator provides the safest petroleum environment for employees and clients.