1988 Underground Storage Tanks; Technical Requirements; Final Rule and Underground Storage Tanks Containing Petroleum-Financial Responsibility Requirements and State Program Approval Objective; Final Rule
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Rule Summary
In 1988, EPA published technical requirements for underground storage tanks containing petroleum or hazardous substances defined under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980. The technical requirements include leak detection, leak prevention, and corrective action for all underground storage tanks containing regulated substances. In 1988, EPA also published financial responsibility requirements for underground storage tank owners and operators to demonstrate financial responsibility for taking corrective action, as well as compensating third parties for bodily injury and property damage from releases of tanks containing petroleum. This regulation also included requirements for state program approval.
Rule History
EPA proposed these regulations in April 1987, published a supplemental notice in December 1987, and published the final regulations in September 1988.
Additional Resources
The UST technical compendium contains questions and answers that interpret the 1988 UST regulations.
The preambles to the 1988 UST regulations provide additional text explaining rationale and may be helpful in understanding the regulations.
Industry Codes and Standards although not federal regulations, compliance with these standard industry codes of practice is mandated.
Federal Register Notices
- Federal Register Notices Pertaining to Underground Storage Tanks - Proposed and final federal UST regulations are published in the Federal Register. These notices contain additional text that explains the rationale behind a proposed or final regulation. This additional text, referred to as the preamble, may be helpful in understanding the regulation.
- Federal Register Notices Pertaining to State Program Approval - As of September 2020, 39 states plus the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico have approved programs.
The Underground Storage Tank (UST) Docket provides public access to regulatory information supporting the Agency's regulatory actions (1985-1998) on underground storage tanks