WASHINGTON, DC -- According to the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), temporary rules issued last year requiring more rigorous groundwater monitoring and tests for leaks of both vapor and liquid from certain gasoline underground storage tanks (USTs) in the state of Maryland have been made permanent with only minor modification.
Published on Jan. 6, 2006, in the Maryland Register, the final rules also include new requirements for owners to have underground gasoline storage systems routinely inspected by Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE)-certified private inspectors, among other provisions. “The rules are slated to take effect on a permanent basis Jan. 16,” reports the BNA.
In January 2005, temporary rules were established in designated “high-risk groundwater use areas” to address growing concern over water supply wells in Maryland contaminated with methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and other gasoline components. According to BNA, “Those rules, and the new permanent regulations, apply to roughly 1,800 facilities with underground gasoline tanks in 11 high-risk counties, with additional requirements for about 850 located in areas deemed to be at highest risk, according to MDE's summary of economic impacts.”
Additionally, the new rules requiring MDE-certified inspections will apply statewide to roughly 3,500 facilities with underground gasoline tanks.
The temporary rules adopted in January 2005 required underground gasoline tank owners located in the highest-risk areas to install groundwater monitoring wells even before any leak was detected, notes BNA, which allowed for the testing of pipes for vapor leaks using a helium pressure test, and to take other precautions such as testing catchment basins and containment sumps.
“Those rules also added requirements for new gasoline underground storage tanks in designated high-risk areas, including double-walled pipes, built-in sensors to warn of leaks, helium pressure testing of pipes for vapor leaks and regular testing of groundwater, among other provisions,” writes BNA.
According to Herb Meade, program administrator for state’s oil control program, MDE is “very pleased” with the results of vapor leak testing and groundwater monitoring conducted over the past year, notes BNA. Meade also concludes that the pipe testing “has stopped a lot of vapor leaks to the environment” and that groundwater monitoring in some instances “has revealed contamination we [MDE] wouldn’t have found otherwise.”
The final rulemaking also clarifies the definition of an “upgrade” that triggers certain requirements under the law, notes BNA, including the changeover to double-walled pipes. BNA writes, “The new rule specifies that replacement of ‘40 percent or more’ of an underground storage tank system constitutes an upgrade.”
New inspection rules will also require owners to have underground gasoline tank systems “inspected by an MDE-certified inspector no later than Dec. 31, 2007, for existing tanks or within six months of installation in the case of new tanks,” writes BNA, adding that subsequent inspections “are required every three years thereafter or more frequently if ordered by MDE.”
Meanwhile, the new rules will not increase the frequency of required precision testing from once every 15 years to once every five years until June 2010 for commercial heating oil USTs buried for 15 years or more and tanks where no installation date can be determined.
According to Meade, MDE decided against adopting the rule “because of concerns that it might force the industry to undertake procedures it does not have the capacity to accomplish.”
The final rules issued Jan. 6 also revise state regulations to allow for consistency with legislation enacted in 2005, which increased fees on oil transferred to the state to help fund Maryland’s oil disaster contingency and cleanup reimbursement activities, as well as altered the eligibility requirements which UST owners can apply for site cleanup reimbursement.
Click here to view the final rules issues by the Maryland Department of the Environment.