Revised NYS Regulations Governing Bulk Storage Tanks by NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

Revisions to used oil management regulations will be effective on November 10, 2015, and operator training requirements must be implemented by October 11, 2016. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) issued regulations revisions, governing the management and bulk storage of petroleum and hazardous substances effective October 11, 2015.

Petroleum Bulk Storage and Used Oil. Prior to these revisions, NYSDEC’s Petroleum Bulk Storage (PBS) regulations were distributed across three different regulatory parts. They did not include changes made in 2008 to New York’s Environmental Conservation Law and did not correspond to federal regulations at 40 C.F.R. Part 280 governing underground storage tanks (USTs).

The revised PBS regulations are assembled in one part (6 N.Y.C.R.R. Part 613), and clarify requirements pertaining to state- and federally-regulated USTs and above-ground storage tanks (ASTs). The new regulations include new or more detailed requirements relating to:

• Prohibition of petroleum deliveries to leaking or apparently leaking tanks,
• Reporting and investigation of known or suspected releases,
• Operator training (for UST systems subject to the federal Part 280 regulations),
• Standards for tank systems storing used oil and
• Release response and corrective actions.

The new regulations also amended 6 N.Y.C.R.R. Subpart 374-2, which, with existing regulations at Part 360-14, govern the management of used oil.

The former PBS regulations applied to USTs and ASTs with a combined storage capacity of more than 1,100 gallons. However, the revised regulations are now consistent with the federal Part 280 UST regulations and the ECL, so they also govern certain USTs with a capacity of more than 110 gallons. Tanks not regulated under the PBS program include temporary tanks, “operational” tanks (e.g., hydraulic fluid tanks), and certain tanks for heating oil and motor fuel.

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