Iowa Compliance Inspections
PMMIC has been providing an annual UST or AST loss control inspection for facilities with a standard policy for a number of years. In Iowa, this annual inspection has satisfied the requirements for the biennial UST compliance inspections, which are reported to the Iowa DNR during a “compliance year.” A compliance year in Iowa is every odd-numbered year. Every DNR regulated facility must have a compliance inspection completed and submitted during that year. That’s a lot of inspections!
As we’ve grown and adjusted our loss control program, we’ve recognized that it would be beneficial for our customers, the regulators, and the service companies if the compliance inspection schedule for PMMIC sites was reevaluated. In 2018, PMMIC received approval to split the compliance inspections for each of our insured facilities between alternating years. We will still be visiting every site, every year, but only half of those inspections will be conducted and submitted to the IDNR as a compliance inspection. The following year, the other half of the facility inspections will be submitted.
The PMMIC annual inspection has almost the same criteria as a compliance inspection, so it is unlikely that you will notice a huge difference from one year to another. (Keep in mind, we’ve already been conducting your compliance inspections every odd-numbered year since 2007!) To ensure that your facility inspection goes as smoothly as possible, regardless of whether it is a PMMIC annual inspection or the EPA required compliance inspection, we recommend running through this checklist prior to any inspection:
- Monitor Status - Make sure all leak detection and cathodic protection monitors are operating properly. This includes having records of recent passing tests (at least 12 months’ worth) and that all alarms have been cleared and addressed.
- Dispenser Area – All dispensing units should be installed properly, in good condition, leak free, and any fuel, water, or debris should be removed from the dispenser sump. Hoses should be free of cracks, filters should be changed routinely, the dispenser sump should be intact and properly sealed, sensors should be placed properly, no mechanical components (pumps, piping, valves, etc.) should have leaks, and any metal portion should be isolated or protected from corrosive elements.
- Tank Area – All tank manways, including fill pipes, submersible pumps, tank probes, or interstice sensors, should be installed properly, in good condition, leak free and any fuel, water, or debris should be removed from piping sumps. In addition, you will need to make sure that the IDNR tank registration tags are properly displayed.
If you have any questions about our inspection process or what you can do to prepare more ahead of time, please contact our office.