Transcript USTs 101 - John Guy Home Inspection

Carin Lee Kromm, L.G
North Carolina Department of Natural Resources,
Division of Waste Management, UST Section
Curriculum Vitae
 1982-1986: University of Delaware, B.S. Geology; Newark
 1987-1989:
 1989-1990:
 1990-1995:
 1995-2011:
 2011-UST:
Delaware
Asbestos Laboratory Technician,
Hauppauge New York
Field Geologist, Cape Coral, Florida
Staff Geologist-Project Geologist,
Bethesda Maryland
Project, Senior, and Principal Geologist,
Greensboro and Winston-Salem, North
Carolina
Section Supervisor, Winston-Salem, NC
Where did it all begin??
The Clean Water Act of 1972
 EPA was established on December 2, 1970
 The Federal Water Pollution Act was amended six
more times before it was finally rewritten in 1972 and
amended in 1977 and is now known as the Clean
Water Act (CWA)
 Since 1977, the CWA has been amended several more
times.
Federal UST Regulations
Congress passed several laws to address the nationwide
problem of leaking USTs.
 1978
Oil Pollution and Hazardous Substance Act
 1984
Subtitle I was added to the Solid Waste
Disposal Act and Solid Waste
Amendments
 1986
Superfund Amendments Reauthorization
Act (SARA)
 EPA directed the States to implement similar programs
Division of Waste Management
UST Section
 Corrective Action Branch (CAB) – Addresses
petroleum Releases
 Permits and Inspections Branch(PIB) – Addresses
current and operating UST systems
 Trust Fund Branch (TFB) – Establishes eligibility and
reimburses the Responsible Party cost to cleanup
releases from UST Systems
North Carolina Regulations
Pertaining to the UST Section
North Carolina Administrative Code (NCAC)
Title 15A, Environment and Natural Resources
Chapter 2, Environmental Management
http://ncrules.state.nc.us/ncac.asp?folderName=\Title%2015A%20%20Environment%20and%20Natural%20Resources\Chapter%2002%20%20Environmental%20Management
 February 1976
 February 1976
 June 1979
Subchapter 2B -Surface Water and Wetland
Standards
Subchapter 2C - Well Construction
Standards
Subchapter 2L - Groundwater Classification
and Standards
North Carolina Regulations Pertaining
to the UST Section (Continued)
 January 1991
 July 1992
 February 1993
Subchapter 2N
Underground Storage Tanks
Subchapter 2O
Financial Responsibility for
Owner/Operators of USTs
Subchapter 2P – Leaking Underground
Storage Tank Cleanup Funds
UST SECTION is responsible for:
 All Releases Pertaining to Petroleum Products from
the following sources:
 Aboveground Tanks (ASTs);
 USTs;
 Oil/Water Separators;
 Generators;
 Hydraulic lifts
 Overturned Vehicles –Cars, Tankers and Semis; and
 Spills.
What is a Spill or Release?
Definition (for UST releases)
Definition (non-UST spills)
 Any spilling, leaking,
 Any spilling leaking,
emitting, discharging,
escaping, leaching or
disposing from a UST
system into groundwater,
surface water or subsurface
soil.
 Reportable Release: Any
quantity!
emitting, discharging,
escaping, leaching or
disposing into groundwater,
surface water, or soil (above
or below ground).
 Reportable Release: Equal to
or greater than 25 gallons.
How are Releases from Home
Heating Oil USTs Discovered?
 Property Transfers
 Phase I Environmental
Site Assessments
(usually not required by
lender for a residential
home)
 Home Inspection
(visual observation)
 Homeowner Disclosure
(home is heated by fuel
oil)
 Soil sampling in the
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vicinity of UST.
Removal of UST
Contaminated watersupply well
Contaminated surface
water body or low area
where water pools after a
rain event.
Odors/Vapors in
basement or crawlspace.
Home Heating Oil USTs
Are UNREGULATED
Until A Release IS Discovered,
then it becomes REGULATED.
What does that mean?
Regulated USTs Vs Non-Regulated USTs
Regulated USTs are defined as:
Any underground storage tank containing regulated substances as
defined in 15A NCAC 2N), specifically petroleum and are subject to
the UST Closure, Assessment and Cleanup Rules.
(Including but not limited to gasoline, diesel, and used/waste oil)
Non-Regulated USTs are defined as:
Heating oil USTs that are used on the premises where stored a
Farm or residential heating oil USTs less than 1,100 gallons in capacity
and used for non-commercial reasons.
USTs less than 110 gallons in capacity.
Any heating oil UST greater than 1,100 gallons used on premises
where stored by four or fewer households
If a Release is Not Suspected
 USTs are not required to be removed from the ground
or closed by any specific procedure.
 Soil and groundwater samples are not required at
closure.
If a Release is Suspected
 The UST must be repaired or removed,
and soil and groundwater must be
assessed.
Soil Contamination
 Fuel oil can migrate via
the pathways of least
resistance such as
pipelines, more porous
soil, and natural cracks
and fissures.
Groundwater Contamination
Now What?
 Initial Abatement Actions must be performed by the
Responsible Party (RP)
 Who is the RP? Good Question!
The RP is defined as a UST owner, UST operator,
and/or landowner seeking reimbursement from the
NC State Trust Fund, or any person who is responsible
for a discharge or release of petroleum
NCDENR requires
Notification of a Release
within 24- Hours of
Discovery
Initial Abatement Actions
 Hire a Licensed Geologist or Professional Engineer
(work must be overseen and reports must be sealed by licensed professional).
 Remove Contaminated Soil
 Collect Confirmation Soil Samples
 Investigate the Presence of Free Product
 Abate Free Product, if present
 Provide Notification to NCDENR
 Submit an Initial Abatement Action Report to
NCDENR
Regulated UST Rules
“Risk-Based Rules”
 Receptors such as water supply wells, places of public
assembly, day cares, schools, land use, surface water bodies,
wellhead protection areas, deep aquifers in the Coastal Plain .
 Land Use (current and future) such as Residential,
Commercial, Industrial. NCDENR assumes Residential Land
Use until proven otherwise.
 Petroleum constituents detected in soil and groundwater are
allowed to be left at different concentrations based on the
results of the receptor survey (Risk Classification-High,
Intermediate, Low).
Incident Risk Classification
High Risk Classification:
 Water Supply Well, including those used for non-drinking
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purposes is contaminated by the release
A water supply well used for drinking is located within 1,000
feet of the source area.
A water supply well no used for drinking is located within 250
feet of the source area
Contaminated groundwater within 500 feet of the source area
is has a potential for use in the future and there is no other
source of water.
The vapors from the release pose a serious threat of explosion
due to the accumulation of vapors in a confined space.
The release poses an imminent danger to public health,
public safety or the environment.
Incident Risk Classification
Intermediate Risk Classification:
 The High Risk Classification Criteria does not apply
 Surface water body is located within 500 feet of the
source area.
 Free product is present on groundwater.
 Groundwater concentrations are greater than the Gross
Contaminant Levels (GCLs)
Low Risk Classification:
 Does not meet any criteria defined as High or
Intermediate Risk
Risk-Based Standards
Soil Standards:
Groundwater Standards:
 Soil-to-Groundwater Maximum
 2L Groundwater Quality
Soil Contaminant
Concentrations (MSCCs)-Most
protective of groundwater
quality.
 Residential MSCCs –Most
protective of the sensitive
human and environmental
population.
 Industrial/Commercial MSCCsMost protective of the
occasional visitor and worker
populations.
Standards-The lowest standards.
Some are lower than EPA
drinking water standards.
 Gross Contaminant Levels Approximately 1,000 times the
2L Groundwater Quality
Standard.
Risk-Based Remediation Goals
 High Risk Remediation Goals:
 Soil must be cleaned up to below the
Soil-to-Groundwater MSCCs*.
 Groundwater must be cleaned up to
below the 2L Groundwater Quality
Standards.
* Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs) are most harmful to the
sensitive human population so that the
Residential MSCCs for these
concentrations are lower than the Soilto-Groundwater MSCCs and would
apply for closure.
 Intermediate and Low Risk Remediation
Goals:
 Soil must be cleaned up to below the
Residential MSCCs, if site is zoned as
residential property* .
 Soil must be cleaned to below the
Industrial/Commercial MSCCs if the
site is zoned as Industrial/
Commercial property *.
 Groundwater must be cleaned up to
below the GCLs or will not cause the
2B Surface Water Quality Standards to
be exceeded by a factor of 10 by the
time it reaches the surface water body.
* The rules change appropriately if
rezoned in the future. NCDENR
assumes that all sites are Residential
until proven otherwise.
Risk Reduction and Closure
High Risk Classification:
 Reduce the risk by
permanently closing water
supply wells; and
 Provide municipal water
to residents, if available.
Intermediate Risk
Classification:
 Complete enough remediation
to remove free product from
the groundwater surface.
 Complete enough remediation
to reduce petroleum
concentrations in groundwater
to below the GCLs.
 Complete enough soil
remediation to reduce soil
concentrations to below the
Residential MSCCs or
Industrial/Commercial
MSCCs, if applicable.
Land Use Restrictions
 A Notice of Residual Petroleum (NORP/NRP) must be
filed with the appropriate County Register of Deeds for
those sites that have not been remediated to below the
“Unrestricted Use Standards” prior to a land
transaction and issuance of a Notice of No Further
Action.
 Unrestricted Use Standards are considered to be the
Soil-to-Groundwater/Residential MSCCs and the 2L
Groundwater Quality Standards.
NFA with a NORP
High Risk Sites:
 No NORP unless the risk has been reduced to
Intermediate or Low.
Intermediate and Low Risk Sites:
 NORP where the Residential MSCCs and the 2L
Groundwater Quality Standards are exceeded.
Public Notice is required when a NORP is used as a
vehicle to closure.
LUST Trust Fund
 Home Heating Oil USTs are considered to be Non
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Commercial USTs and eligible for the Non-Commercial
Trust Fund.
Subject to Eligibility Verification by the Trust Fund Branch
of the UST Section. (Statutory Tank Owner is determined
by the date of last use-Last used after November 8, 1984)
No Deductible
Only cleanup costs for “directed work” are reimbursable
(no reimbursement for pre-closure assessment and UST
closure costs)
Only sites that are ranked as H350 are considered to be
directed. Hasn’t changed since October 9, 2006. Ensures
the funds solvency.
Some Unregulated USTs, Surface
Spills, and AST Rules
No RiskBased
Rules!
Non-UST Rules
 Regulated under the Oil Pollution and Hazardous
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Substance Act of 1978 and the 15A NCAC 2L, Groundwater
Classifications.
Like home heating oil USTs, ASTs are considered to be
unregulated and no closure procedures are required.
However, if a release is indentified soil and groundwater
assessment is required to be completed.
Soil contamination must be cleaned up to Soil-toGroundwater MSCCs
Groundwater contamination must be cleaned up to the 2L
Groundwater Standards.
Risk-Based rules may be coming.
Where does the funding for this
program come from?
 Issue permits to operating facilities, collect
annual permit fees
 Trust Fund (Operators pay permit fees) pays
program salaries and also aids RPs with cleanup
costs.
 Gas Tax (1/32 of a penny)
Money doesn’t grow trees, right?
 EPA Funding Grants