Revising Underground Storage Tank Regulations-Revisions to Existing Requirements and New Requirements for Secondary Containment and Operator Training

Score: 32 / 60
53%
F

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What this Rule is Proposing

EPA is proposing to make certain revisions to the 1988 underground storage tank (UST) technical, financial responsibility, and state program approval regulations. These changes establish federal requirements that are similar to key portions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005; they also update certain 1988 UST regulations. Proposed changes include: Adding secondary containment requirements for new and replaced tanks and piping; adding operator training requirements; adding periodic operation and maintenance requirements for UST systems; removing certain deferrals; adding new release prevention and detection technologies; updating codes of practice; making editorial and technical corrections; and updating state program approval requirements to incorporate these new changes. These changes will likely protect human health and the environment by increasing the number of prevented UST releases and quickly detecting them, if they occur.

Commentary

EPA is proposing to revise past regulation of underground storage tanks (USTs) without much evidence on the degree to which they pose problems or are connected to inadequacies in current regulation. There is no discussion of why private and public owners of USTs are not concerned about leakages thus biasing the focus of the RIA in the direction of tighter regulation. Alternatives are barely explored, and there is an underlying assumption that regulation is necessary: That is to say, there is no real exploration of the optimality of ex-ante intervention compared with relying on ex-post penalties in the tort system.