Up Against A Wall (or Two)

February 8 has come and gone, the deadline when states were to have determined whether they would go with Secondary Containment or Financial Responsibility for underground storage tanks, as mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. PEI Executive Director Bob Renkes, who has been continually monitoring states' progress, reports that 45 states have chosen Secondary Containment (SC) for tanks, piping and under dispenser containment for motor fuel; two have chosen Financial Responsibility (FR); one is leaning toward a hybrid option, and two states have not yet decided.

Manufacturers who build the tanks and piping, distributors who sell it, and those who install it as well as own it, continue to have questions. The PEI Journal assembled a variety of experts to provide some insight:

• Paul Miller, E.E., Secondary Containment Project Lead, EPA Office of Underground Storage Tanks
• Sullivan (Sully) Curran, P.E., Executive Director, Fiberglass Tank & Pipe Institute
• Wayne Geyer, Executive Vice President, Steel Tank Institute/Steel Plate Fabricators Association
• Ellen Frye, Editor of L.U.S.T. Line
• Terry Jensen, Manager, Sales & Marketing Services, Xerxes Corporation

The PEI Journal: The law requires states to have made the decision to implement either secondary containment or financial responsibility by February 8. The states now have all the tools in terms of guidance. What happens now?
Paul Miller: EPA is giving states considerable flexibility to establish their own SC and FR programs. For states demonstrating good faith efforts toward meeting the requirements, EPA has the flexibility to continue assisting states as they implement their programs. Perhaps a state will implement SC in June, but because their congressional session just approved it and they now have to write regs and they can't get that done before June, EPA is not going to withhold funding from that state. They are making progress in implementing the requirements.

How many states have chosen Secondary Containment and how many Financial Responsibility?
Sully Curran: Forty-five states are definitely going with SC; other states will probably move in that direction. Those states, however, will have to go through the legislature or some procedural process before they can regulate SC, and that will take some time. Two states, Missouri and Kansas, definitely will not change; they are staying with FR.

Ellen Frye: That being said, the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission believes that every new installation and every replacement needs to be secondarily contained.

What does this mean for manufacturers of tank and piping?
Sully Curran: They can make single or double wall, whichever way the consumer or the state requires.

Terry Jensen: Between 60 and 70 percent of all the tanks Xerxes sells are double wall tanks. Most of the national accounts have been buying double wall for years, for the extra security.

How would you advise a distributor or installer whose customer needs a tank in April?
Wayne Geyer: That's a concern if they are providing a quotation and the installation doesn't occur for another four or five months; by that time the state may have already implemented secondary containment.

Paul Miller: If the customer is in a state that has not implemented secondary containment requirements, you are not required to install secondary containment until the state implements the requirements.

Wayne Geyer: When someone asks for a single wall tank, the supplier is going to have to tell them they may be required to have double wall in the future.

How does that impact the sale?
Wayne Geyer: There will be an awkwardness, because it sounds like the supplier is trying to convince them to spend more money.

How much more money?
Terry Jensen: Double, just for the tank.

Wayne Geyer: Depends on who you ask, what part of the country you're in, what the demand is. The Steel Tank Institute estimates double wall tanks cost 30 to 60 percent more than single wall. Manufacturers and suppliers don't want to get put in that position, and we're trying to make sure the word gets out. For instance, in Minnesota, installations after August 7 have to be SC. Quotes before then have to show cognizance of this.

There seems to be confusion over the implementation of the Secondary Containment Guidelines, specifically the determination that the new or replaced underground tank and piping are not within 1,000 feet of any existing community water system or any existing potable drinking water well. Will someone be out there measuring that 1,000 feet?
Paul Miller: States may choose to implement requirements that apply everywhere, or they may choose to implement requirements that apply within 1,000 feet. If they choose the measurement within 1,000 feet, they have to come up with some mechanism for measuring “within 1,000 feet.” Whether the owner has to do it, the state does it or a third party does it, the guidelines allow that to happen, but it is up to the states.

Doesn't every service station have some sort of water line nearby that delivers drinking water?
Paul Miller: That's probably true. But there are things that this might apply to that are not gas stations; for example, emergency generator tanks for a missile silo.

Wayne Geyer: The tank that goes in without some sort of potable water nearby is going to be few and far between. It would be simpler to mandate it across the board.

Paul Miller: Yes, most gas stations have a drinking water supply, whether it is a community water system—which in our definition includes distribution piping for that system under the control of the community water system operator, so that runs to the street in front of the gas station, probably within 1,000 feet—or in the case of a gas station in a rural area, a potable drinking water well, which would be within 1,000 feet.

As states settle in on their decisions, are there any other issues to consider?
Wayne Geyer: Will states expand the requirement to other pieces of equipment? For instance, is a flex connector a part of a pipe? What about the sheer valve or the sump, do they have to be SC? Will the definition be expanded to consider the total tank system?

We'll be watching closely.

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The PEI Journal • First Quarter 2007 • Volume 1, No. 1 • Contents are Copyright © Data Key Communications, Inc.
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