Member Program Descriptions
    Office of Underground Storage Tanks

Office of Underground Storage Tanks

Subtitle I of the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the 1986 amendment to Subtitle I in the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA).

Overall Purpose:
Subtitle I of RCRA was enacted by Congress in response to the increasing threat to ground water posed by leaking underground storage tanks (USTs). An UST is defined as any one or combination of tanks that has at least 10 percent of its volume beneath the surface of the ground, including underground piping connected to the tank. The statute required EPA to develop a comprehensive program to protect the environment and human health from releases of USTs storing regulated substances, including gasoline, aviation fuel, diesel fuel, other petroleum products, and hazardous substances defined under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The statute includes requirements for tank registration, release detection, monitoring, and reporting, corrective action, demonstration of financial resources to carry out corrective action, and preventive measures, such as spill, overfill, and corrosion protection. The 1986 amendment created the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Trust Fund, to provide federal funds for corrective actions and pay for cleanup at UST sites where the owner or operator is unknown, unwilling, or unable to respond, or which require emergency action. Revenues for the trust fund are derived from a gasoline tax which is scheduled to expire in 2005.

Program Role in Protecting Ground Water:
The federal regulatory program, implemented by the Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST), was established to manage efforts to prevent releases of regulated substances into the environment and ensure that releases are adequately investigated and cleaned up. The statute directed EPA to perform studies and develop regulations for release detection, release prevention, and corrective action.

At the inception of the program there were more than 2 million tanks in the regulated universe of USTs. As of September 2003 approximately 683,000 active USTs are regulated by UST technical regulations; 439,385 have confirmed releases; 403,558 have initiated cleanup; 303,120 cleanups have been completed; and 136,265 cleanups have not yet been completed. Most USTs contain petroleum products. Releases from USTs can contaminate soil and ground water and cause fires or explosions. States have reported to EPA that UST releases are the most common source of ground water contamination.

Because of the size of the UST universe, EPA designed the program to be implemented by the states. Authority to implement the program is delegated to the states through either the formal process of obtaining state program approval (SPA) or a cooperative agreement. Thirty three states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have all been approved to act in lieu of the federal program. Most of the other states have agreements with EPA to be the primary implementing agency. In 2003 EPA supported the state programs by providing resources from the LUST Trust fund ($58 million) and UST state and tribal grants ($11 million), technical assistance, training, and information exchange.

The UST regulations are found in 40 CFR Parts 280 and 281. These regulations are applicable to USTs containing petroleum or substances defined as hazardous under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, except any substance regulated as a hazardous waste under Subtitle C of RCRA. The primary difference between the requirements for regulated substance tanks (e.g. motor fuels) and hazardous substance tanks is that the latter must be secondarily contained to provide an additional layer of protection against releases to the environment.

Technical Standards and Corrective Action Requirements for Owners and Operators of Underground Storage Tanks (UST) are found in 40 CFR Part 280. The standards define the universe of tanks regulated by the program and those tanks exempt or deferred from the regulations. Part 280 also provides requirements for UST systems design, construction, installation, notification and operations; release detection, reporting, investigation, and confirmation; release response and corrective action; and, financial responsibility and liability.

Approval of State Underground Storage Tank Programs are found in 40 CFR Part 281. This part describes the general requirements and scope of the programs; components of a program application; criteria for "no less stringent"; adequate enforcement of compliance; approval procedures; and, withdrawal of approval of state programs. Part 282 provides information on individual state programs. As of December 2003, 33 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have approved programs.

Designation, Reportable Quantities, and Notification, found in 40 CFR Part 302.4, contains the list of hazardous substances designated in CERCLA to which the UST program is subject. In addition to designating the hazardous substances, this regulation identifies reportable quantities for the substances, and sets forth the notification requirements for releases of the substances.

Policy Directives:
There are a number of Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) Policy Directives pertaining to the UST program.

Use of Monitored Natural Attenuation at Superfund, RCRA Corrective Action, and Underground Storage Tank Sites (9200.4-17P) This document provides guidance to EPA staff, the public, and the regulated community on how EPA intends to exercise its discretion in implementing national policy on the use of Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA). It is intended to promote consistency in how MNA remedies are proposed, evaluated, and approved. The directive addresses the advantages and disadvantages of MNA, the role of MNA in remediation programs, sites where MNA may be appropriate, timeframe for remediation, source remediation, performance monitoring, and contingency remedies.

Guidance for Conducting Federal-lead Underground Storage Tank Corrective Actions (9360.0-16A) This document provides direction to on-scene coordinators, removal program personnel, and regional UST coordinators on procedures to be followed, including required justification and documentation necessary for undertaking Federal-UST corrective action.

Promotion of Innovative Technologies in Waste Management Programs (9380.0-25) - This document encourages headquarters and regional managers to support remedial action decision-makers in using new technologies for sampling, analysis, remediation, and monitoring. It also encourages reducing impediments to the use of new technologies by measures such as streamlining the permitting process, avoiding unnecessary regulatory control, and using federal facilities to conduct development and demonstration activities.

Use of Risk-Based Decision-Making in UST Corrective Action Programs (9610.17) - This directive encourages regions, states, and local programs to use risk-based decision-making (RBDM) as an integral part of corrective action programs. It describes what RBDM is, where and how it can be used, how it can be implemented at various stages of corrective action, how EPA can assist implementing agencies design and implement RBDM processes, and provides examples of RBDM use.

Technical Publications:
OUST also has a series of technical publications to assist regulators and contractors with corrective action.

Expedited Site Assessment Tools for Underground Storage Tank Sites (publication 510-9-97/001) was designed to help federal, state, and local regulators evaluate new and conventional site assessment technologies to encourage the use of the expedited site assessment (ESA) process. It presents an overview of the ESA process, discusses methods and equipment employed at UST sites and their applicability and limitations. It is intended as a guide (not guidance), focusing on the scientific and practical considerations for evaluating various technologies used to assess USTs.

How to Evaluate Alternative Cleanup Technologies for Underground Storage Tank Sites: A Guide for Corrective Action Plan Reviews (publication 510-B-95-007) is a guide to help regulators review corrective action plans for alternative cleanup technologies. It focuses on engineering-related considerations for evaluating each of 10 technologies, taking into consideration site-specific conditions and the nature and extent of contamination.

How to Effectively Recover Free Product at Leaking Underground Storage Tank Sites: A Guide for State Regulators (publication 510-R-96-001) provides information to help regulators who oversee cleanups and evaluate free product recovery plans at petroleum release sites. The manual addresses recovery of free product below ground surface. It focuses on scientific and engineering-related considerations for evaluating various technologies for the recovery of free product in the subsurface.

Areas of Flexibility:
OUST provides technical assistance, guidance, and funding to the regions and states. The states design and implement their individual programs. They have the latitude to tailor programs by specifying cleanup levels and administrative procedures. They have the flexibility and are encouraged and assisted by EPA to experiment with innovative technologies and risk-based decision-making. States may also have more stringent leak prevention and detection requirements.

Ongoing OUST priorities include:

The 2002 Brownfields law authorized EPA to grant funds to states and communities so they can inventory, assess, and clean up low-risk petroleum-contaminated brownfields. This program complements the USTfields initiative of 2000 and 2001 which served as an important building block spawning partnerships for the reuse of abandoned gas stations. Former gas station sites have been revitalized all over the country and replaced with new homes, businesses, parks, wetlands, and community facilities. In 2003, EPA provided almost $23 million to states and local governments to assist them in assessing, cleaning up, and reusing petroleum brownfields.

The Improved Compliance initiative was established to make compliance with the 1998 tank requirements ( including new tank standards, tank protective features, and proper closure of substandard tanks) and the leak detection requirements a national priority. As of 2000, approximately 15 percent of tanks were not in compliance with the spill, overfill, and corrosion protection requirements and 40 percent of tanks may not have been in compliance with leak detection requirements. Ensuring tanks are in compliance with UST requirements is an integral component to preventing future releases of MTBE and other contaminants. The initiative includes improvements in the quality of compliance data, setting national and regional targets through 2005 for bringing tanks into compliance, obtaining commitments from states to increase inspection and enforcement presence, exploring approaches to promote multi-site compliance agreements between EPA and site owners, and providing tools (such as technical assistance, guidance, and training) to foster improved operational compliance.

The Accelerated Cleanup initiative was developed to address the backlog of tank releases that need to be cleaned up. As of 2003, 136,000 cleanups had not been completed. The initiative includes cleanup goals that aim to reduce the current backlog by one-half by 2007. It involves working with the regions to pilot innovative, cost-effective approaches for cleanup; continuing and expanding ground water cleanup optimization pilots; and, continuing to provide technical and financial assistance to regions and states to address MTBE/oxygenates.

The UST System Evaluation initiative was developed to evaluate the performance of tank systems and determine where improvements are needed. The evaluation is nearing completion.