As used in sections 319.100 to 319.137, the following terms mean:

(1) “Aboveground storage tank”, any one or a combination of tanks, including pipes connected thereto, used to contain an accumulation of petroleum and the volume of which, including the volume of the aboveground pipes connected thereto, is ninety percent or more above the surface of the ground, and is utilized for the sale of products regulated by chapter 414. The term does not include those tanks described in paragraphs (a) to (k) of subdivision (16) of this section or aboveground storage tanks at petroleum pipeline terminals;

(2) “Board”, the board of trustees of the petroleum storage tank insurance fund;

(3) “Conference, conciliation and persuasion”, a process of verbal or written communications consisting of meetings, reports, correspondence or telephone conferences between authorized representatives of the department and the alleged violator. The process shall, at a minimum, consist of one offer to meet with the alleged violator tendered by the department. During any such meeting, the department and the alleged violator shall negotiate in good faith to eliminate the alleged violation and shall attempt to agree upon a plan to achieve compliance;

(4) “Department”, the department of natural resources;

(5) “Fund”, the petroleum storage tank insurance fund established pursuant to section 319.129;

(6) “Guarantor”, any person, other than the owner or the operator, who provides evidence of financial responsibility;

(7) “Minor violation”, a violation which possesses a small potential to harm the environment or human health or cause pollution, was not knowingly committed, and is not defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as other than minor;

(8) “Operator”, any person in control of, or having responsibility for, the daily operation of the tank;

(9) “Owner”, shall include any person who owned an underground storage tank immediately before the discontinuation of its use if not in use on August 28, 1989, or any person who owns an underground storage tank in use on or after August 28, 1989, and any person who owned an aboveground storage tank that was utilized for the sale of products regulated by chapter 414 immediately before the discontinuation of its use if not in use on August 28, 1996, and any person who owns an aboveground storage tank utilized for the sale of products regulated by chapter 414 in use on or after August 28, 1996. The term does not include any person who, without participating in the management of an aboveground storage tank or underground storage tank or both types of tanks, and otherwise not primarily engaged in petroleum production, refining, and marketing, holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect a security interest in or lien on the tank or the property where the tank is located;

(10) “Participating in management” does not include monitoring the operator’s business, acquiring title in lieu of a foreclosure or other agreement in settlement of the operator’s or property owner’s debt;

(11) “Person”, any individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation, including a government corporation, partnership, association, the state and its political subdivisions, or any interstate body. “Person” also includes any consortium, joint venture, commercial entity, and the government of the United States;

(12) “Petroleum” shall mean gasoline, kerosene, diesel, lubricants and fuel oil;

(13) “Petroleum storage tank”, an aboveground storage tank or an underground storage tank used to contain an accumulation of petroleum. The term does not include those tanks described in paragraphs (a) to (k) of subdivision (16) of this section;

(14) “Regulated substance” includes:

(a) Any substance defined in Section 101(14) of the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (P.L. 96-510), as amended, but not including any substance regulated as a hazardous waste under Subtitle C of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-580), as amended; and

(b) Petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction thereof, which is liquid at standard conditions of temperature and pressure, sixty degrees Fahrenheit and fourteen and seven-tenths pounds per square inch absolute, respectively; and

(c) Any substance adopted by rule in accordance with federal laws referenced by Section 101(14) of the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (P.L. 96-510);

(15) “Release” includes, but is not limited to, any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching, or disposing from a petroleum storage tank into groundwater, surface water, or subsurface soils;

(16) “Underground storage tank”, any one or combination of tanks, including pipes connected thereto, used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances, and the volume of which, including the volume of the underground pipes connected thereto, is ten percent or more beneath the surface of the ground. The department shall adopt, delete or modify exemptions established in this subdivision to any modifications, additions or deletions made by the Environmental Protection Agency. Exemptions from this definition and regulations promulgated under the provisions of sections 319.100 to 319.137 include:

(a) Farm or residential tank of eleven hundred gallons or less used for storing motor fuel for noncommercial purposes;

(b) Tanks used for storing heating oil for consumptive use on the premises where stored;

(c) Septic tanks;

(d) Pipeline facilities, including gathering lines, regulated under:

a. The federal Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 (P.L. 90-481), as amended; or

b. The federal Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Act of 1979 (P.L. 96-129), as amended;

(e) Pipeline facilities regulated under state laws comparable to the provisions of law referred to in paragraph (d) of this subdivision;

(f) Surface impoundments, pits, ponds, or lagoons;

(g) Storm water or wastewater collection systems;

(h) Flow-through process tanks;

(i) Liquid traps or associated gathering lines directly related to oil or gas production and gathering operations; and

(j) Storage tanks situated in an underground area, such as a basement, cellar, mineworking, drift, shaft, or tunnel, if the storage tank is situated upon or above the surface of the floor; and

(k) Transformers, circuit breakers or other electrical equipment.