Pennsylvania Act 1992-184 — STORAGE TANK AND SPILL PREVENTION ACT - OMNIBUS AMENDMENTS

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