19-6-420.  Releases — Abatement actions — Corrective actions.

(1)  If the director determines that a release from a petroleum storage tank has occurred, the director shall:

Terms Used In Utah Code 19-6-420

  • Abatement action: means action taken to limit, reduce, mitigate, or eliminate:
(a) a release from a petroleum storage tank; or
(b) the damage caused by that release. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Certificate of compliance: means a certificate issued to a facility by the director:
    (a) demonstrating that an owner or operator of a facility containing one or more petroleum storage tanks has met the requirements of this part; and
    (b) listing petroleum storage tanks at the facility, specifying:
    (i) which tanks may receive petroleum; and
    (ii) which tanks have not met the requirements for compliance. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Corrective action plan: means a plan for correcting a release from a petroleum storage tank that includes provisions for any of the following:
    (a) cleanup or removal of the release;
    (b) containment or isolation of the release;
    (c) treatment of the release;
    (d) correction of the cause of the release;
    (e) monitoring and maintenance of the site of the release;
    (f) provision of alternative water supplies to a person whose drinking water has become contaminated by the release; or
    (g) temporary or permanent relocation, whichever is determined by the director to be more cost-effective, of a person whose dwelling has been determined by the director to be no longer habitable due to the release. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Costs: means money expended for:
    (a) investigation;
    (b) abatement action;
    (c) corrective action;
    (d) judgments, awards, and settlements for bodily injury or property damage to third parties;
    (e) legal and claims adjusting costs incurred by the state in connection with judgments, awards, or settlements for bodily injury or property damage to third parties; or
    (f) costs incurred by the state risk manager in determining the actuarial soundness of the fund. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Covered by the fund: means the requirements of Section 19-6-424 have been met. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Director: means the director of the Division of Environmental Response and Remediation. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Division: means the Division of Environmental Response and Remediation, created in Subsection 19-1-105(1)(c). See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Fund: means the Petroleum Storage Tank Fund created in Section 19-6-409. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Operator: means a person in control of or who is responsible on a daily basis for the maintenance of a petroleum storage tank that is in use for the storage, use, or dispensing of a regulated substance. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Owner: means :
    (a) in the case of an underground storage tank in use on or after November 8, 1984, a person who owns an underground storage tank used for the storage, use, or dispensing of a regulated substance;
    (b) in the case of an underground storage tank in use before November 8, 1984, but not in use on or after November 8, 1984, a person who owned the tank immediately before the discontinuance of its use for the storage, use, or dispensing of a regulated substance; and
    (c) in the case of an aboveground petroleum storage tank, a person who owns the aboveground petroleum storage tank. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Petroleum: includes crude oil or a fraction of crude oil that is liquid at:
    (a) 60 degrees Fahrenheit; and
    (b) a pressure of 14. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Petroleum storage tank: means a tank that:
    (a) is an underground storage tank;
    (b) is an aboveground petroleum storage tank; or
    (c) is a tank containing regulated substances that is voluntarily submitted for participation in the Petroleum Storage Tank Fund under Section 19-6-415. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Program: means the Environmental Assurance Program under Section 19-6-410. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Regulated substance: includes motor fuels, jet fuels, distillate fuel oils, residual fuel oils, lubricants, petroleum solvents, and used oils. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Release: means spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching, or disposing a regulated substance from a petroleum storage tank into ground water, surface water, or subsurface soils. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • Responsible party: is a s defined in Subsections (27)(a)(i), (ii), and (iii) does not include:
    (i) a person who is not an operator and, without participating in the management of a facility and otherwise not engaged in petroleum production, refining, and marketing, holds indicia of ownership:
    (A) primarily to protect the person's security interest in the facility; or
    (B) as a fiduciary or custodian under Title 75, Utah Uniform Probate Code, or under an employee benefit plan; or
    (ii) governmental ownership or control of property by involuntary transfers as provided in CERCLA Section 101(20)(D), 42 U. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Underground storage tank: means a tank regulated under Subtitle I, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U. See Utah Code 19-6-402
  • (a)  identify and name as many of the responsible parties as reasonably possible; and

    (b)  determine which responsible parties, if any, are covered by the fund regarding the release in question.
  • (2)  Regardless of whether the petroleum storage tank generating the release is covered by the fund:

    (a)  the director may order the owner or operator to take abatement, or investigative or corrective action, including the submission of a corrective action plan; and

    (b)  if the owner or operator fails to comply with the action ordered by the director under Subsection (2)(a), the director may take one or more of the following actions:

    (i)  subject to the conditions in this part, use money from the fund, if the tank involved is covered by the fund, state cleanup appropriation, or the Petroleum Storage Tank Cleanup Fund created under Section 19-6-405.7 to perform investigative, abatement, or corrective action;

    (ii)  commence an enforcement proceeding;

    (iii)  enter into agreements or issue orders as allowed by Section 19-6-424.5;

    (iv)  recover costs from responsible parties equal to their proportionate share of liability as determined by Section 19-6-424.5; or

    (v)  where the owner or operator is the responsible party, revoke the responsible party’s certificate of compliance, as described in Section 19-6-414.

    (3) 

    (a)  Subject to the limitations established in Section 19-6-419, the director shall provide money from the fund for abatement action for a release generated by a tank covered by the fund if:

    (i)  the owner or operator takes the abatement action ordered by the director; and

    (ii)  the director approves the abatement action.

    (b)  If a release presents the possibility of imminent and substantial danger to the public health or the environment, the owner or operator may take immediate abatement action and petition the director for reimbursement from the fund for the costs of the abatement action. If the owner or operator can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the director that the abatement action was reasonable and timely in light of circumstances, the director shall reimburse the petitioner for costs associated with immediate abatement action, subject to the limitations established in Section 19-6-419.

    (c)  The owner or operator shall notify the director within 24 hours of the abatement action taken.

    (4) 

    (a)  If the director determines corrective action is necessary, the director shall order the owner or operator to submit a corrective action plan to address the release.

    (b)  If the owner or operator submits a corrective action plan, the director shall review the corrective action plan and approve or disapprove the plan.

    (c)  In reviewing the corrective action plan, the director shall consider the following:

    (i)  the threat to public health;

    (ii)  the threat to the environment; and

    (iii)  the cost-effectiveness of alternative corrective actions.

    (5)  If the director approves the corrective action plan or develops the director’s own corrective action plan, the director shall:

    (a)  approve the estimated cost of implementing the corrective action plan;

    (b)  order the owner or operator to implement the corrective action plan;

    (c) 

    (i)  if the release is covered by the fund, determine the amount of fund money to be allocated to an owner or operator to implement a corrective action plan; and

    (ii)  subject to the limitations established in Section 19-6-419, provide money from the fund to the owner or operator to implement the corrective action plan.

    (6) 

    (a)  The director may not distribute any money from the fund for corrective action until the owner or operator obtains the director’s approval of the corrective action plan.

    (b)  An owner or operator who begins corrective action without first obtaining approval from the director and who is covered by the fund may be reimbursed for the costs of the corrective action, subject to the limitations established in Section 19-6-419, if:

    (i)  the owner or operator submits the corrective action plan to the director within seven days after beginning corrective action; and

    (ii)  the director approves the corrective action plan.

    (7)  If the director disapproves the plan, the director shall solicit a new corrective action plan from the owner or operator.

    (8)  If the director disapproves the second corrective action plan, or if the owner or operator fails to submit a second plan within a reasonable time, the director may:

    (a)  develop an alternative corrective action plan; and

    (b)  act as authorized under Subsections (2) and (5).

    (9) 

    (a)  When notified that the corrective action plan has been implemented, the director shall inspect the location of the release to determine whether or not the corrective action has been properly performed and completed.

    (b)  If the director determines the corrective action has not been properly performed or completed, the director may issue an order requiring the owner or operator to complete the corrective action within the time specified in the order.

    (10) 

    (a)  For releases not covered by the fund, the director may recover from the responsible party expenses incurred by the division for managing and overseeing the abatement, and investigation or corrective action of the release. These expenses shall be:

    (i)  billed quarterly per release;

    (ii)  due within 30 days of billing;

    (iii)  deposited with the division as dedicated credits;

    (iv)  used by the division for the administration of the underground storage tank program outlined in this part; and

    (v)  billed per hourly rates as established under Section 63J-1-504.

    (b)  If the responsible party fails to pay expenses under Subsection 10(a), the director may:

    (i)  revoke the responsible party’s certificate of compliance, as described in Section 19-6-414, if the responsible party is also the owner or operator; and

    (ii)  pursue an action to collect expenses in Subsection 10(a), including the costs of collection.

    (11)  This section does not apply to a release of a substance defined as a regulated substance in Section 101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980.

    Amended by Chapter 202, 2021 General Session