1. This subchapter is entitled the “Iowa Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund Act”.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 455G.1

  • Commission: means the natural resource commission. See Iowa Code 462A.2
  • Department: means the department of natural resources. See Iowa Code 462A.2
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • Operator: means a person who operates or is in actual physical control of a vessel. See Iowa Code 462A.2
  • Owner: means a person, other than a lienholder, having the property right in or title to a motorboat or vessel. See Iowa Code 462A.2
  • Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • United States: includes all the states. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Use: means to operate, navigate, or employ a vessel. See Iowa Code 462A.2
 2. This subchapter applies to petroleum underground storage tanks for which an owner or operator is required to maintain proof of financial responsibility under federal or state law, from the effective date of the regulation of the federal environmental protection agency governing that tank, and not from the effective compliance date, unless the effective compliance date of the regulation is the effective date of the regulation. An owner or operator of a petroleum underground storage tank required by federal or state law to maintain proof of financial responsibility for that underground storage tank is subject to this subchapter.

 a. As of May 5, 1989, tanks excluded by the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, subtitle I, included the following:

 (1) A farm or residential tank of one thousand one hundred gallons or less capacity used for storing motor fuel for noncommercial purposes.
 (2) A tank used for storing heating oil for consumptive use on the premises where stored.
 (3) A septic tank.
 (4) A pipeline facility, including gathering lines, regulated under any of the following:

 (a) The federal Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968.
 (b) The federal Hazardous Liquid Petroleum Pipeline Safety Act of 1979.
 (c) State laws comparable to the provisions of the law referred to in subparagraph division (a) or (b).
 (5) A surface impoundment, pit, pond, or lagoon.
 (6) A storm water or wastewater collection system.
 (7) A flow-through process tank.
 (8) A liquid trap or associated gathering lines directly related to oil or gas production and gathering operations.
 (9) A storage tank situated in an underground area, such as a basement, cellar, mine working, drift, shaft, or tunnel, if the storage tank is situated upon or above the surface of the floor to permit inspection of its entire surface.
 b. As of May 5, 1989, tanks exempted or excluded by United States environmental protection agency financial responsibility regulations, 40 C.F.R. §280.90, included the following:

 (1) Underground storage tank systems not in operation on or after the applicable compliance date.
 (2) Those owned or operated by state and federal governmental entities whose debts and liabilities are the debts and liabilities of a state or the United States.
 (3) Any underground storage tank system holding hazardous wastes listed or identifiable under subtitle C of the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, or a mixture of such hazardous waste and other regulated substances.
 (4) Any wastewater treatment tank system that is part of a wastewater treatment facility regulated under section 307(b) or 402 of the federal Clean Water Act.
 (5) Equipment or machinery that contains regulated substances for operational purposes such as hydraulic lift tanks and reservoirs and electrical equipment tanks.
 (6) Any underground storage tank system whose capacity is one hundred ten gallons or less.
 (7) Any underground storage tank system that contains a de minimis concentration of regulated substances.
 (8) Any emergency spill or overflow containment underground storage tank system that is expeditiously emptied after use.
 (9) Any underground storage tank system that is part of an emergency generator system at nuclear power generation facilities regulated by the nuclear regulatory commission under 10 C.F.R. pt. 50, appendix A.
 (10) Airport hydrant fuel distribution systems.
 (11) Underground storage tank systems with field-constructed tanks.
 c. If and when federal law changes, the department of natural resources shall adopt by rule such additional requirements, exemptions, deferrals, or exclusions as required by federal law. It is expected that certain classes of tanks currently exempted or excluded by federal regulation will be regulated by the United States environmental protection agency in the future. A tank which is not required by federal law to maintain proof of financial responsibility shall not be subject to department of natural resources rules on proof of financial responsibility.