act-1992-0-184•Pennsylvania Act 1992-184 — STORAGE TANK AND SPILL PREVENTION ACT - OMNIBUS AMENDMENTS
Pennsylvania Act 1992-184 — STORAGE TANK AND SPILL PREVENTION ACT - OMNIBUS AMENDMENTS
act-1992-0-1841992 Pa. Act 184Law
Act text
STORAGE TANK AND SPILL PREVENTION ACT - OMNIBUS AMENDMENTS
Act of Dec. 18, 1992, P.L. 1665, No. 184 Cl. 27
Session of 1992
No. 1992-184
HB 2456
AN ACT
Amending the act of July 6, 1989 (P.L.169, No.32), entitled "An
act providing for the regulation of storage tanks and tank
facilities; imposing additional powers and duties on the
Department of Environmental Resources and the Environmental
Quality Board; and making an appropriation," exempting
volunteer fire companies and volunteer emergency medical
service organizations from the underground storage tank
registration fee; and further providing for eligibility of
claimants, for the advisory committee, for fire protection
requirements, for commercial heating oil storage tanks, for
the Underground Storage Tank Indemnification Fund , for the
powers and duties of the Underground Storage Tank
Indemnification Board and for the Storage Tank Loan Fund.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 105(a) of the act of July 6, 1989
(P.L.169, No.32), known as the Storage Tank and Spill Prevention
Act, is amended to read:
Section 105. Advisory committee.
(a) Appointment, composition, etc.--A storage tank advisory
committee shall be appointed by the secretary within 30 days
after the effective date of this act. The committee shall
consist of no more than [11] 15 members. Four members shall be
representatives of local government, [three] five members shall
be representatives of the regulated community, one member shall
be a registered professional engineer with three years of
experience in this Commonwealth [and three], one member shall be
a hydrogeologist and four members shall be representatives of
the public [at large]. Members shall serve without compensation
other than reimbursement for reasonable and necessary expenses
in accordance with Commonwealth policy or regulations and shall
serve for terms fixed by the secretary. The [three] five
representatives from the regulated community shall be appointed
by the secretary, one each from a list of three nominees
provided by the following:
(1) The Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania.
(2) The Pennsylvania Petroleum Association.
(3) The Service Station Dealers and Automotive Repair
Association of Pennsylvania and Delaware and the Petroleum
Retailers and Auto Repair Association, Inc.
(4) The Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council.
(5) Tank Installers of Pennsylvania.
* * *
Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 305. Fire protection requirements.
The State Fire Marshal shall establish fire protection
requirements by regulation for aboveground storage and
dispensing tanks of 12,000 gallons or less of Class I and Class
II motor fuels, naphthalene, kerosene, fuel oil and other
substances of like character for nonretail distribution. Prior
to the adoption of regulations under this section, protected
aboveground storage tanks shall comply with the applicable
provisions of Underwriters Laboratory Standards No. 142 and the
National Fire Protection Association Standards. The State Fire
Marshall and the Pennsylvania State Police shall enforce this
section pursuant to the act of April 27, 1927 (P.L.450, No.291),
referred to as the State Fire Marshal Law.
Section 3. Sections 503(a), 505, 704(a), 705(a), (c)(2) and
(3), (d) and (e) and 709 of the act are amended to read:
Section 503. Registration.
(a) Requirements.--Every owner of an underground storage
tank, except as specifically excluded by policy or regulation of
the department, shall register with the department each
underground storage tank by completing and submitting the form
provided by the department and by paying the registration fee
prescribed by the department for each underground storage tank
within three months of the effective date of this act. Volunteer
fire companies and volunteer emergency medical services
organizations which own underground storage tanks shall register
each underground storage tank with the department but shall not
be required to pay the registration fee. It shall be unlawful
for any owner or operator to operate or use, in any way, any
underground storage tank that has not been registered as
required by this section.
* * *
Section 505. Commercial heating oil storage tanks.
The Environmental Quality Board shall [establish] adopt, by
regulation, the specific requirements for commercial heating oil
storage tanks when they are established by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency, including, but not limited to,
requirements regarding permitting, monitoring, leak detection,
corrective action and release prevention, closure and
restoration. If no Federal requirements are adopted by January
1, 1996, the board may establish, by regulation, requirements
for commercial heating oil storage tanks until Federal
requirements are adopted.
Section 704. Underground Storage Tank Indemnification Fund.
(a) Establishment of fund.--
(1) There is hereby created a special fund in the State
Treasury to be known as the Underground Storage Tank
Indemnification Fund. This fund shall consist of the fees
assessed by the board under section 705(d), amounts recovered
by the board due to fraudulent or improper claims or as
penalties for failure to pay fees when due, and funds earned
by the investment and reinvestment of the moneys collected.
Moneys in the fund are hereby appropriated to the board for
the purpose of making payments to owners and operators of
underground storage tanks who incur liability for taking
corrective action or for bodily injury or property damage
caused by a sudden or nonsudden release from underground
storage tanks. The fund shall be the sole source of payments
under this act, and the Commonwealth shall have no liability
beyond the amount of the fund. Every owner of an underground
storage tank shall demonstrate financial responsibility by
participating in the Underground Storage Tank Indemnification
Fund. The owner or operator may obtain coverage for liability
not insured by the fund through any of the methods approved
in accordance with section 701(b).
(2) This fund is declared a restricted fund. The moneys
in the fund shall be used only for the purposes set forth in
this section and shall not be transferred or diverted to any
other purpose by the use of any administrative procedure.
* * *
Section 705. Powers and duties of Underground Storage Tank
Indemnification Board.
(a) Support.--The board may employ or contract for the
personnel necessary to process fee payments, to administer
claims made against the Underground Storage Tank Indemnification
Fund and to carry out the purposes of the board. The board may
also employ or contract for the services of attorneys,
consultants and actuaries necessary to advise the board in
establishing fees under subsection (d) and deductible amounts
under subsection (c).
* * *
(c) Deductible.--
* * *
(2) The board shall set the initial deductible for
corrective action claims at [$75,000] $10,000 per tank per
occurrence. Thereafter, the deductible shall be actuarially
sound and shall be based on an estimate of the average cost
of taking corrective action due to a sudden or nonsudden
release from underground storage tanks in this Commonwealth.
The board shall not set a deductible in an amount lower than
[$50,000] $5,000 per tank per occurrence.
(3) [The board shall set the initial deductible for
claims due to bodily injury, property damage or both, at
$150,000 per tank per occurrence. Thereafter, the deductible
shall be based on an estimate of the average award for
settlement of third-party claims involving bodily injury,
property damage or both, caused by a sudden or nonsudden
release from underground storage tanks in this Commonwealth.
The board shall not set a deductible in an amount lower than
$100,000 per tank per occurrence.] The board shall set a
deductible for claims due to bodily injury, property damage
or both caused by a sudden or nonsudden release from
underground storage tanks in this Commonwealth. The board
shall not set a deductible in an amount lower than $5,000 per
tank per occurrence.
(d) Fees.--
(1) The board, by regulation, shall establish fees to be
paid by the owner or operator, as appropriate, of underground
storage tanks. Fees shall be set on an actuarial basis in
order to provide an amount sufficient to pay outstanding and
anticipated claims against the Underground Storage Tank
Indemnification Fund in a timely manner. Fees shall also
include an amount sufficient to meet all other financial
requirements of the board. Fees shall be adjusted as deemed
necessary by the board, but no more than once a year. The
board shall annually evaluate the fee amount to determine if
it is sufficient to meet the anticipated expenses of the fund
and provide a copy of its evaluation to the Environmental
Resources and Energy Committee of the Senate and the
Conservation Committee of the House of Representatives. The
board shall analyze the claims experience of storage tanks to
determine which types of underground tanks or tank
configurations result in less frequent leaks.
(2) The owner or operator of an underground storage tank
used to store heating oil or diesel fuel shall pay a per
gallon of tank capacity insurance fee calculated in the
following manner by the board. The board shall determine the
total revenue a uniform per tank, per gallon insurance fee
for all underground storage tanks would generate if it were
applied to heating oil and diesel fuel tanks and divide that
number by the total tank storage capacity of heating oil and
diesel fuel tanks registered with the Department of
Environmental Resources at the beginning of the policy
period. The resulting per gallon of tank capacity fee shall
be paid by owner or operator of heating oil or diesel fuel
tanks. The board shall provide public notice of the per
gallon of capacity fee in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
(3) In no case shall the owner or operator of an
underground storage tank used for nonretail bulk storage or
wholesale distribution of gasoline pay fees totaling more
than $5,000 per tank in any annual coverage period for which
fees are charged.
(e) Payment of fees.--Fees established under subsection (d)
shall be paid by the owner of the tank unless a written
agreement between the owner and the operator provides otherwise.
Fees shall be paid to the Underground Storage Tank
Indemnification Fund or to the intermediaries so designated by
regulation. A person who fails or refuses to pay the fee or a
part of the fee by the date established by the board shall be
assessed a penalty of 5% of the amount due which shall accrue on
the first day of delinquency and be added thereto. Thereafter,
on the last day of each month during which any part of any fee
or any prior accrued penalty remains unpaid, an additional 5% of
the then unpaid balance shall accrue and be added thereto. A
financial institution holding a mortgage or security interest on
property containing an underground storage tank may with the
owner or operator request the board to notify the financial
institution in the event the owner or operator does not pay the
fees required by this section by the date specified by the
board. Notice of nonpayment to the financial institution or
payment of an owner or operator's fee shall not constitute the
assumption of any corrective action liability on the part of a
financial institution.
* * *
Section 709. Loan fund.
(a) Establishment.--There is established a separate account
in the State Treasury to be known as the Storage Tank Loan Fund,
which shall be a special fund administered by the Department of
Commerce.
(b) Purpose.--In a case when the department has identified
no more than two owners or operators that individually own no
more than 20 storage tanks as potentially liable to take
corrective action under section 1302, such persons may be
eligible, upon written application to the Department of
Commerce, to receive long-term, low-interest loans in an amount
up to [$15,000] $50,000 at an interest rate not to exceed 2%.
The Department of Commerce shall promulgate regulations
establishing eligibility criteria for the loans. As part of this
effort, the Department of Commerce shall include a determination
of the availability of other sources of funds at reasonable
rates to finance all or a portion of the response action and the
need for Department of Commerce assistance to finance the
response action.
(c) Funds.--In addition to any funds as may be appropriated
by the General Assembly, at least [2%] $750,000 of the funds
raised annually by the assessments imposed by sections 303 and
502 shall be deposited into the loan fund.
(d) Annual report.--Beginning January 1, 1990, and annually
thereafter, the Department of Commerce shall transmit to the
General Assembly a report concerning activities and expenditures
made pursuant to this section for the preceding State fiscal
year. Included in this report shall be information concerning
all revenues and receipts deposited into the loan fund and all
loans extended to eligible applicants.
(e) Sunset.--The loan fund shall cease to exist on June 30,
[1995] 1998, unless it is reestablished by action of the General
Assembly. Any funds remaining in the loan fund on June 30,
[1995] 1998, shall lapse to the Storage Tank Fund. Money
received by the Department of Commerce as repayment of
outstanding loans after June 30, [1995] 1998, shall lapse to the
Storage Tank Fund.
Section 4. This act shall take effect as follows:
(1) The amendment of sections 503 and 709 of the act
shall take effect July 1, 1993.
(2) The remainder of this act shall take effect
immediately.
APPROVED--The 18th day of December, A. D. 1992.
ROBERT P. CASEY
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