Bill Text: WV HB2598 | 2022 | Regular Session | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Modifying the inspection requirements and the definition of an above ground storage tank

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 10-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-02-16 - To Energy, Industry, and Mining [HB2598 Detail]

Download: West_Virginia-2022-HB2598-Engrossed.html

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WEST virginia legislature

2022 regular session

ENGROSSED

Committee Substitute

for

House Bill 2598

By Delegates J. Kelly, Anderson, Mandt, Horst, Barnhart, Conley, Cooper, Zatezalo, Queen, and Rohrbach

[Originating in the Committee on Energy and Manufacturing, February 8, 2022]

 

 

A BILL to amend and reenact §22-30-3, §22-30-5, and §22-30-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating generally to above ground storage tanks; modifying an exception to the definition of an aboveground storage tank to except out devices having a capacity of 210 barrels or less, containing brine water or other fluids produced in connection with hydrocarbon transmission and storage, as well as production activities, that are not located in a zone of critical concern; providing that the secretary may not, as part of the regulatory program, require any regulated tanks to be lifted, moved, or otherwise physically altered in connection with a visual leak detection program in the absence of a confirmed release; providing that tanks used for hydrocarbon production, transportation, and storage activities and tanks used for roadway snow and ice pretreatment, as identified under §22-30-3(1)(M) and (N), are exempt from inspection and certification by a third party, but must be self-inspected, self-certified, and reported to DEP by its owner or operator at least once per year; and providing that tanks used for hydrocarbon production, transportation, and storage activities and tanks used for roadway snow and ice pretreatment, as identified under §22-30-3(1)(M) and (N) are required to have secondary containment inspections performed and documented by the owner or operator at least once per month.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 30. THE ABOVEGROUND STORAGE TANK ACT.

§22-30-3. Definitions.

For purposes of this article:

(1) “Aboveground storage tank” or “tank” or “AST” means a device made to contain an accumulation of more than 1,320 gallons of fluids that are liquid at standard temperature and pressure, which is constructed primarily of nonearthen materials, including concrete, steel, plastic, or fiberglass reinforced plastic, which provide structural support, more than 90 percent of the capacity of which is above the surface of the ground, and includes all ancillary pipes and dispensing systems up to the first point of isolation. The term includes stationary devices which are permanently affixed, and mobile devices which remain in one location on a continuous basis for 365 or more days. A device meeting this definition containing hazardous waste subject to regulation under 40 C.F.R. Parts 264 and 265, exclusive of tanks subject to regulation under 40 C.F.R. §265.201 is included in this definition but is not a regulated tank. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, the following categories of devices are not subject to the provisions of this article:

(A) Shipping containers that are subject to state or federal laws or regulations governing the transportation of hazardous materials, including, but not limited to, railroad freight cars subject to federal regulation under the Federal Railroad Safety Act, 49 U.S.C. §20101-2015, as amended, including, but not limited to, federal regulations promulgated thereunder at 49 C.F.R. §§172, 173, or 174;

(B) Barges or boats subject to federal regulation under the United States Coast Guard, United States Department of Homeland Security, including, but not limited to, federal regulations promulgated at 33 C.F.R. 1 et seq. or subject to other federal law governing the transportation of hazardous materials;

(C) Swimming pools;

(D) Process vessels;

(E) Devices containing drinking water for human or animal consumption, surface water or groundwater, demineralized water, noncontact cooling water, or water stored for fire or emergency purposes;

(F) Devices containing food or food-grade materials used for human or animal consumption and regulated under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. §301-392);

(G) Except when located in a zone of critical concern, a device located on a farm, the contents of which are used exclusively for farm purposes and not for commercial distribution;

(H) Devices holding wastewater that is being actively treated or processed (e.g., clarifier, chlorine contact chamber, batch reactor, etc.);

(I) Empty tanks held in inventory or offered for sale;

(J) Pipeline facilities, including gathering lines, regulated under the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 or the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979, or an intrastate pipeline facility regulated by the West Virginia Public Service Commission or otherwise regulated under any state law comparable to the provisions of either the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 or the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979;

(K) Liquid traps, atmospheric and pressure vessels, or associated gathering lines related to oil or gas production and gathering operations;

(L) Electrical equipment such as transformers, circuit breakers, and voltage regulator transformers;

(M) Devices having a capacity of 210 barrels or less, containing brine water or other fluids produced in connection with hydrocarbon transmission, storage, and production activities, that are not located in a zone of critical concern; and

(N) Devices having a capacity of 10,000 gallons or less, containing sodium chloride or calcium chloride water for roadway snow and ice pretreatment, that are not located in a zone of critical concern: Provided, That all such devices exempted under subdivisions (M) and (N) of this subdivision must still meet the registration requirements contained in §22-30-4 of this code, the notice requirements contained in §22-30-10 of this code, and the signage requirements contained in §22-30-11 of this code.

(2) “Department” means the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

(3) “First point of isolation” means the valve, pump, dispenser, or other device or equipment on or nearest to the tank where the flow of fluids into or out of the tank may be shut off manually or where it automatically shuts off in the event of a pipe or tank failure.

(4) “Nonoperational storage tank” means an empty aboveground storage tank in which fluids will not be deposited or from which fluids will not be dispensed on or after the effective date of this article.

(5) “Operator” means any person in control of, or having responsibility for, the daily operation of an aboveground storage tank.

(6) “Owner” means a person who holds title to, controls, or owns an interest in an aboveground storage tank, including the owner immediately preceding the discontinuation of its use. “Owner” does not mean a person who holds an interest in a tank for financial security unless the holder has taken possession of and operated the tank.

(7) “Person”, “persons”, or “people” means any individual, trust, firm, owner, operator, corporation, or other legal entity, including the United States government, an interstate commission or other body, the state or any agency, board, bureau, office, department, or political subdivision of the state, but does not include the Department of Environmental Protection.

(8) “Process vessel” means a tank that forms an integral part of a production process through which there is a steady, variable, recurring, or intermittent flow of materials during the operation of the process or in which a biological, chemical, or physical change in the material occurs. This does not include tanks used for storage of materials prior to their introduction into the production process or for the storage of finished products or by-products of the production process.

(9) “Public groundwater supply source” means a primary source of water supply for a public water system which is directly drawn from a well, underground stream, underground reservoir, underground mine, or other primary sources of water supplies which are found underneath the surface of the state.

(10) “Public surface water supply source” means a primary source of water supply for a public water system which is directly drawn from rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, impoundments, or other primary sources of water supplies which are found on the surface of the state.

(11) “Public surface water influenced groundwater supply source” means a source of water supply for a public water system which is directly drawn from an underground well, underground river or stream, underground reservoir, or underground mine, and the quantity and quality of the water in that underground supply source is heavily influenced, directly or indirectly, by the quantity and quality of surface water in the immediate area.

(12) “Public water system” means:

(A) Any water supply or system which regularly supplies or offers to supply water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances, if serving at least an average of 25 individuals per day for at least 60 days per year, or which has at least 15 service connections, and shall include:

(i) Any collection, treatment, storage, and distribution facilities under the control of the owner or operator of the system and used primarily in connection with the system; and

(ii) Any collection or pretreatment storage facilities not under such control which are used primarily in connection with the system.

(B) A public water system does not include a bathhouse located on coal company property solely for the use of its employees or a system which meets all of the following conditions:

(i) Consists only of distribution and storage facilities (and does not have any collection and treatment facilities);

(ii) Obtains all of its water from, but is not owned or operated by, a public water system which otherwise meets the definition;

(iii) Does not sell water to any person; and

(iv) Is not a carrier conveying passengers in interstate commerce.

(13) “Regulated level 1 aboveground storage tank” or “level 1 regulated tank” means:

(A) An AST located within a zone of critical concern, source water protection area, public surface water influenced groundwater supply source area, or any AST system designated by the secretary as a level 1 regulated tank; or

(B) An AST that contains substances defined in section 101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) as a “hazardous substance” (42 U.S.C. §9601(14)); or is on EPA’s Consolidated List of Chemicals Subject to the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA), CERCLA, and §112(r) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) (known as the List of Lists) as provided by 40 C.F.R. §§355, 372, 302, and 68 in a concentration of one percent or greater, regardless of the AST’s location, except ASTs containing petroleum are not level 1 regulated tanks based solely upon containing constituents recorded on the CERCLA lists; or

(C) An AST with a capacity of 50,000 gallons or more, regardless of its contents or location.

(14) “Regulated level 2 aboveground storage tank” or “level 2 regulated tank” means an AST that is located within a zone of peripheral concern that is not a level 1 regulated tank.

(15) “Regulated aboveground storage tank” or “regulated tank” means an AST that meets the definition of a level 1 or level 2 regulated tank.

(16) “Release” means any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, or leaching of fluids from an aboveground storage tank into the waters of the state or escaping from secondary containment.

(17) “Secondary containment” means a safeguard applied to one or more aboveground storage tanks that prevents the discharge into the waters of the state of the entire capacity of the largest single tank and sufficient freeboard to contain precipitation. In order to qualify as secondary containment, the barrier and containment field must be sufficiently impervious to contain fluids in the event of a release, and may include double-walled tanks, dikes, containment curbs, pits, or drainage trench enclosures that safely confine the release from a tank in a facility catchment basin or holding pond. Earthen dikes and similar containment structures must be designed and constructed to contain, for a minimum of 72 hours, fluid that escapes from a tank.

(18) “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, or his or her designee.

(19) “Source water protection area” for a public groundwater supply source is the area within an aquifer that supplies water to a public water supply well within a five-year time of travel and is determined by the mathematical calculation of the locations from which a drop of water placed at the edge of the protection area would theoretically take five years to reach the well.

(20) “Zone of critical concern” for a public surface water supply source and for a public surface water influenced groundwater supply source is a corridor along streams within a watershed that warrants detailed scrutiny due to its proximity to the surface water intake and the intake’s susceptibility to potential contaminants within that corridor. The zone of critical concern is determined using a mathematical model that accounts for stream flows, gradient and area topography. The length of the zone of critical concern is based on a five-hour time of travel of water in the streams to the intake. The width of the zone of critical concern is 1,000 feet measured horizontally from each bank of the principal stream and 500 feet measured horizontally from each bank of the tributaries draining into the principal stream.

(21) “Zone of peripheral concern” for a public surface water supply source and for a public surface water influenced groundwater supply source is a corridor along streams within a watershed that warrants scrutiny due to its proximity to the surface water intake and the intake’s susceptibility to potential contaminants within that corridor. The zone of peripheral concern is determined using a mathematical model that accounts for stream flows, gradient, and area topography. The length of the zone of peripheral concern is based on an additional five-hour time of travel of water in the streams beyond the perimeter of the zone of critical concern, which creates a protection zone of 10 hours above the water intake. The width of the zone of peripheral concern is 1,000 feet measured horizontally from each bank of the principal stream and 500 feet measured horizontally from each bank of the tributaries draining into the principal stream.

§22-30-5. Aboveground Storage Tank Regulatory Program.

(a) The secretary shall develop a regulatory program for new and existing regulated aboveground storage tanks and secondary containment that takes into account the size, location and contents of the tanks and sets out tiered requirements for regulated tanks. Level 1 tanks shall be regulated to a higher standard of tank and secondary containment integrity based upon their proximity to a public surface water supply source or public surface water influenced groundwater supply source.

(b) The rules promulgated by the secretary for regulated tanks and secondary containment shall, at a minimum, include the following:

(1) Criteria for the design, construction and maintenance of aboveground storage tanks;

(2) Criteria for the design, construction, maintenance or methods of secondary containment;

(3) Criteria for the design, operation, maintenance or methods of leak detection. Acceptable leak detection shall include, but not be limited to, visual inspections, an inventory control system together with tank testing, or a comparable system or method designed to identify leaks from aboveground storage tanks; Provided, That the secretary may not require any regulated tanks to be lifted, moved, or otherwise physically altered in connection with a visual leak detection program in the absence of a confirmed release; 

(4) Requirements for recordkeeping;

(5) Requirements for the development of maintenance and corrosion prevention plans;

(6) Requirements for the closure of aboveground storage tanks and any remediation necessary as a result of release from the aboveground storage tank;

(7) The assessment of a registration fee, and annual operation and response fees as determined by the secretary;

(8) Certificate to operate issuance only after the application and any other supporting documents have been submitted, reviewed and approved by the secretary;

(9) A procedure for the administrative resolution of violations including the assessment of administrative civil penalties.

(c) For those entities that are otherwise regulated under those provisions of this chapter that necessitate individual, site-specific permits or plans that require appropriate containment and diversionary structures or equipment to prevent discharged or released materials from reaching the waters of the state, the secretary may amend those permits or plans associated with those permits or both at the request of the permittee to include conditions pertaining to the management and control of regulated tanks, so long as those conditions in the opinion of the secretary are sufficient in combination with practices and protections already in place to protect the waters of the state. In its application for permit or plan modification, the permittee shall advise the secretary whether, how and to what extent the permittee adheres to other standards or plans with regard to tank and secondary containment integrity, inspection and spill prevention and response, including, without limitation, API 653 standards for Tank Inspection, Repair, Alteration and Reconstruction or STI SP001 Standards for Aboveground Storage Tanks or the requirements of the federal spill prevention and countermeasures program governed by 40 C. F. R. Part 112. Inclusion of ASTs in amended permits or plans would not relieve the owner or operator’s responsibility to pay registration, certificate to operate or Protect Our Water Fund fees. Specifically, the permits or plans the secretary may amend include:

(1) Permits issued pursuant to the Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act, article three of this chapter;

(2) Permits issued by the Office of Oil and Gas pursuant to article six or six-a of this chapter or spill pollution and control measures plans required under 35 C. S. R. 1;

(3) Individual permits issued pursuant to the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System, article eleven of this chapter;

(4) Permits issued pursuant to the Solid Waste Management Act, article fifteen of this chapter; and

(5) Groundwater protection plans issued pursuant to article twelve of this chapter.

(d) Any entity whose permit or plan modification or amendment relating to tank integrity and secondary containment design operation and maintenance is approved by the secretary and so maintained shall be deemed to be compliant with this article and entitles the entity to a certificate to operate so long as the registration requirements of section four of this article are also met.

(e) The manner and time frames for implementation of the regulatory program required by this section shall be established by the secretary through the proposal of emergency or legislative rules in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.

§22-30-6. Evaluation and certification.

(a) Each regulated aboveground storage tank and its associated secondary containment structure shall be evaluated by a qualified registered professional engineer or a qualified person working under the direct supervision of a registered professional engineer, regulated and licensed by the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers, or by an individual certified to perform tank inspections by the American Petroleum Institute or the Steel Tank Institute, or by a person holding certification under another program approved by the secretary.

(b) Every owner or operator shall submit a certification that each regulated tank and its associated secondary containment structure have been evaluated by a qualified person as set forth in subsection (a) of this section and meets the standards established in accordance with section five of this article.

(c) The certification form shall be submitted to the secretary within one hundred eighty days of the effective date of the rules establishing standards that are adopted in accordance with section five of this article. Subsequent certifications shall be due at regular intervals thereafter as established by the secretary by legislative rule, but not more frequently than once per calendar year.

(d) Any person who performs a tank evaluation in accordance with subsection (a) of this section, a responsible person designated by the owner or operator and any other person designated by the secretary by legislative rule may certify aboveground storage tanks in accordance with subsection (b) of this section.

(e) Notwithstanding any subsection in this section, tanks identified under §22-30-3(1)(M) and (N) that are located in a zone of critical concern are exempt from this section, but must be self-inspected and self-certified by its owner or operator at least once per year and reported to the agency; and tanks identified under §22-30-3(1)(M) and (N) that are located in a zone of critical concern are required to have secondary containment inspections performed and documented by the owner or operator at least once per month.

 

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.