(A) At the time the federal government mandates financial responsibility for underground storage tank owners or operators, the owner or operator of an underground storage tank containing petroleum or petroleum products shall maintain financial responsibility in the lesser amount of that required by the federal government or in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars for site rehabilitation and for compensating third parties for property damage and bodily injury arising from the operation of petroleum underground storage tanks per occurrence with an annual aggregate of twenty-five thousand dollars. Financial responsibility requirements may be maintained through insurance, guarantee, surety bond, letter of credit, self-insurance, risk retention group, or any other method satisfactory to the department. No insurance policy, guarantee, surety bond, or any other financial responsibility mechanism which is executed to provide this or additional amounts of coverage shall contain any terms, endorsements, conditions, provisions, or other language that requires expenditures of funds from the Superb Account or the Superb Financial Responsibility Fund prior to or in lieu of payment by the mechanism, and no such financial responsibility mechanism which has previously been executed shall operate so as to require the expenditure of funds from the Superb Account or Superb Financial Responsibility Fund until funds provided by the financial responsibility mechanisms have been exhausted. The owner or operator shall demonstrate evidence of financial responsibility to the department.

(B) The department shall promulgate regulations specifying requirements for maintaining evidence of financial responsibility, consistent with the provisions of this chapter, for taking corrective action and compensating third parties for bodily injury and property damage caused by accidental releases arising from operating an underground storage tank. The funds established in § 44-2-40, for the purposes of these regulations, are acceptable mechanisms for maintaining this financial responsibility by owners and operators of underground storage tanks above twenty-five thousand dollars.

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 44-2-70

  • Bodily injury: means actual medically documented costs and medically documentable future costs of adverse health effects that have resulted from exposure to a release of petroleum or petroleum products from an underground storage tank. See South Carolina Code 44-2-20
  • Department: means the Department of Health and Environmental Control. See South Carolina Code 44-2-20
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Fund: means the funds provided for under this chapter and deposited in the Superb Account or the Superb Financial Responsibility Fund hereinafter created. See South Carolina Code 44-2-20
  • Occurrence: means an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to conditions which results in a release from an underground storage tank. See South Carolina Code 44-2-20
  • Operator: means any person in control of, or having responsibility for the daily operation of an underground storage tank. See South Carolina Code 44-2-20
  • Owner: means :

    (a) in the case of an underground storage tank system in use on November 8, 1984, or brought into use after that date, a person who owns an underground storage tank system used for storage, use, or dispensing of regulated substances;

    (b) in the case of any underground storage tank system in use before November 8, 1984, but no longer in use on that date, a person who owned such an underground storage tank immediately before the discontinuation of its use; or

    (c) a person who has assumed legal ownership of the underground storage tank through the provisions of a contract of sale or other legally binding transfer of ownership. See South Carolina Code 44-2-20
  • Property damage: means a documented adverse physical impact to structures or property as a result of a release of petroleum or petroleum products from an underground storage tank. See South Carolina Code 44-2-20
  • Site rehabilitation: means cleanup actions taken in response to a release from an underground, storage tank which includes, but is not limited to, investigation, evaluation, planning, design, engineering, construction, or other services put forth to investigate or clean up affected subsurface soils, groundwater, or surface water. See South Carolina Code 44-2-20
  • Underground storage tank: means any one or combination of tanks, including underground pipes connected to it, which is used to contain an accumulation of regulated substance, and the volume of which is ten percent or more beneath the surface of the ground. See South Carolina Code 44-2-20

(C) The funds established in § 44-2-40, combined with the financial responsibility required by this section, may be used by owners and operators of underground storage tanks to demonstrate their compliance with any financial responsibility requirements promulgated under federal regulation.

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