§ 1922. Definitions

As used in this chapter:

(1) “Aboveground storage tank” means any tank, other than an underground storage tank, used to store any of the following petroleum products: gasoline, diesel, kerosene, used oil, or heating oil.

(2) “Agency” means the Agency of Natural Resources.

(3) “Operator” means any person in control of, or having responsibility for, the daily operation of the underground or aboveground storage tank.

(4) “Owner” means:

(A) in the case of any underground storage tank in use on July 1, 1985 or brought into use after that date, any person who owns an underground storage tank used for storage or dispensing of regulated substances;

(B) in the case of any underground storage tank in use before July 1, 1985 and no longer in use on that date, any person who owned such tank immediately before the discontinuance of its use;

(C) any person who owns an aboveground storage tank.

(5) “Person” means any individual, partnership, company, corporation, association, unincorporated association, joint venture, trust, municipality, the State of Vermont, or any agency, department, or subdivision of the State, federal agency, or any other legal or commercial entity.

(6) “Regulated substance” means all petroleum and toxic, corrosive, or other chemicals and related sludge included in the following:

(A) any substance defined in section 101(14) of the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 but does not include any substance regulated as a hazardous waste under chapter 159 of this title;

(B) petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction thereof that is liquid at standard conditions of temperature and pressure (60 degrees Fahrenheit and 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute);

(C) any other substance as designated by rule of the Secretary.

(7) “Release” means any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching, or disposing from an underground storage tank or aboveground storage tank into groundwater, surface water, or soils.

(8) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Natural Resources or the Secretary’s duly authorized representative.

(9) “Tank integrity demonstration” means a test or a series of tests or other appropriate procedures prescribed by the Secretary to ascertain the condition of an underground storage tank and its surroundings. A tank integrity demonstration may be performed only by a tank inspector licensed under this chapter and shall be completed upon submission of a report detailing the results of one or more approved tests and the Secretary’s approval of that report.

(10) “Underground storage tank” means any one or combination of tanks, including underground pipes connected to it or them, that is or has been used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances, and the volume of which, including the volume of the underground pipes connected to it or them, is 10 percent or more beneath the surface of the ground. Provided, however, that the following are excluded from the definition of “underground storage tanks” established under this section:

(A) septic tanks and manure storage tanks;

(B) flow through process tanks permitted under chapter 47 of this title and tanks regulated by chapter 159 of this title;

(C) stormwater or wastewater collection systems;

(D) storage tanks situated in an underground area if the tank is upon or above the area floor;

(E) pipeline facilities regulated by the federal Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act (49 U.S.C. App. 1671 et seq.), the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act (49 U.S.C. App. 2001 et seq.) or an intrastate pipeline regulated under State laws similar to the foregoing;

(F) liquid petroleum gas storage tanks, used predominantly for the storage of propane, propylene, butane, and butylenes, regulated by the Vermont Fire Prevention and Building Code.

(11) “Category one tank” means an underground storage tank, except for the following:

(A) fuel oil storage tanks used for on-premises heating purposes,

(B) farm or residential tanks for storing motor fuel.

(12) “Bodily injury” means bodily injury, including sickness, disease, or death, sustained by any person.

(13) “Property damage” means:

(A) physical damage to tangible property including all resulting loss of use of that property; or

(B) loss of use of tangible property that is not physically damaged.

(14) “Bulk storage tank” means any aboveground petroleum storage tank at a facility required to have a Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan pursuant to 40 C.F.R. § 112.

(15) “Public building” shall have the same meaning as defined in 20 V.S.A. § 2730.

(16) “Acceptable piping” means:

(A) double-wall pressurized piping; or

(B) single-wall piping that operates under suction, is pitched evenly uphill from the tank top, and has only one check valve that is located at the dispenser, fuel burner, generator, or other piping termination point.

(17) “Double-wall tank system” means an underground storage tank system consisting of a double-wall tank and acceptable piping.

(18) “Combination tank system” means an underground storage tank system consisting of a single-wall tank and acceptable piping.

(19) “Single-wall tank system” means an underground storage tank system consisting of a single-wall tank and single-wall pressurized piping.

(20) “Petroleum Cleanup Fund” or “Fund” means the fund created by section 1941 of this title.

(21) “Motor Fuel Account” means the Motor Fuel Account of the Fund created by section 1941 of this title.

(22) “Heating Fuel Account” means the Heating Fuel Account of the Fund created by section 1941 of this title. (Added 1985, No. 66, § 1; amended 1987, No. 76, § 18; 1987, No. 282 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 7, 7a; 1989, No. 110, §§ 1, 2, eff. June 20, 1989; 1991, No. 85, § 1; 1995, No. 57, § 2; 1997, No. 132 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 23, 1998; 2003, No. 153 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 2009, No. 22, § 1; 2009 No. 3 (Sp. Sess.), § 19; 2011, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2013, No. 55, § 1, eff. May 30, 2013.)