- Tanks on or above the floor of underground areas, such as basements or tunnels
- Septic tanks and systems for collecting storm water and wastewater
- Flow-through process tanks
- Tanks holding less than 110 gallons
- Emergency spill and overfill tanks.
- Spill Protection--Tanks must have catchment basins and/or fill boxes to contain spills from delivery hoses.
- Overfill Protection--Tanks must use automatic shutoff devices, overfill alarms, ball-float valves or a flapper gate.
- Corrosion Protection--Steel tanks and piping must have a corrosion-resistant coating/lining or cathodic protection, or must be made from noncorrodible materials like fiberglass.
Underground Tank Targets
The Environmental Protection Agency requires all owners and operators of underground storage-tank systems to comply with federal rules on spill protection, overfill protection and corrosion protection by December 22, 1998.
USTs are containers with attached piping that are at least 10 percent underground. The EPA regulations apply only to those USTs that are used to store petroleum, petroleum products or hazardous chemicals. Newspapers with USTs containing gasoline for fleet vehicles or waste ink/solvent are covered by this regulation.
The regulations do not apply to:
Federal rules require existing USTs to be upgraded with spill, overfill and corrosion protection, or be closed or replaced. The basic upgrades required for existing USTs are:
If an existing UST is replaced, the new tank must have spill protection, overfill protection or corrosion protection.
As the December 1998 deadline approaches, increased demand to upgrade, close or replace USTs may result in higher charges for these services. Costs for upgrading or replacing USTs could range from $10,000 to over $1 million, depending on the specific circumstances at your site.
Acting promptly may allow you to take advantage of financial incentives by your state reimbursement fund or insurance company to upgrade or replace early, and low-cost loans from state assistance programs. Additionally, you may avoid leaks leading to costly cleanups and damage claims, citations and fines, and curtailed insurance coverage.
For more information, visit NAA's Web site (http://www.naa.org/technology/tankalrt.htm).