By Karim Bouzeid, geologist
Environmental rules and regulations bear an all too familiar resemblance to the seasons; they both tend to change. Last year, between July and Oct. 2021, major changes were enacted in the regulations for the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation’s Division of Underground Storage Tanks. It’s been one year – are your tanks in compliance with the current regulations? We can help answer that question. Let’s start with some of the bigger changes these new rules brought about.
The most notable change that’s sure to garner a good deal of excitement is the suspension of annual fees for all underground storage tanks. This suspension will be in effect for five years! This change also includes more modern rules for the Petroleum Underground Storage Tanks Fund in the form of lowering the deductible from $20,000 to $5,000 for sites in compliance. Lastly, it extends the UST Fund coverage umbrella to new sites with violations using a compliance-based variable deductible scaled from $10,000 to $30,000, based on the severity of the violations.
As seen in the reduced deductible for UST fund coverage, it pays to be in compliance! Let’s take a look at a few of the changes owners and operators of petroleum UST systems should be aware of in order to remain in compliance.
- Operators of UST systems must conduct a walkthrough inspection of their facility on a monthly basis. Records of these inspections must be maintained and provided at the time of the regular compliance inspection.
- Overfill Prevention Equipment must be inspected at least once every three years.
- Tank Owners/Operators must comply with the new notification requirement regarding a spill bucket replacement. Effective immediately, the Division must be notified 72 hours prior to a spill bucket replacement at any facility.
If you have any questions as to whether or not your tanks are in compliance, give us a call at 901-791-2431. We’ll help ensure your compliance status doesn’t change, even if the rules and regulations do!