CHAPTER 425
FORMERLY
SENATE BILL NO. 453
AS AMENDED BY SENATE AMENDMENT NOS. 1, 2 AND 3
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 74, TITLE 7 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DELAWARE UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK ACT.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section I. Amend §7402, Title 7 of the Delaware Code by striking present §7402 and
substituting the following:
"§7402. The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this Chapter, shall have
the meanings ascribed to them In this section, except where the context clearly Indicates a different meaning:
(f) 'Abandoned storage system' means a storage system which:
a. Is not Intended to be returned to service or;
b. Has been out of service for over 3 years; or
c. Has been rendered permanently unfit for use.
(2) 'Ancillary equipment' means any device including, but not limited to, such devices as piping, fittings, flanges, valves, and pumps, that are used to distribute, meter, or control the flow of petroleum or hazardous substances from an underground storage tank.
(3) 'Department' means the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
(4) 'Existing tank' means a tank for which installation began prior to July 12, 1985.
(5) 'Facility' means any location or part thereof containing 1 or more
underground storage tanks.
(1) 'Fund' means the Delaware Underground Petroleum Storage Tank Response Fund.
(2) 'Heating fuels' means a type of fuel oil that is one of eight technical
grades. These grades are: No. I, No. 2, No. 4-light, No. 4-heavy, No. 5-light, No. 5-heavy, No. 6 residual, and substitutes such as kerosene or diesel when used for heating purposes.
(3) New tank or facility' means a tank or facility for which the installation began on or before July 12, 1985.
(4) 'Operator' means any person operating a facility whether by lease, contract or other form of agreement.
(5) Out of service' means a storage system which:
a. Is not In use; that Is, which does not have regulated substances added
to or withdrawn from the storage system; and
b. Is Intended to be placed In service.
(II) 'Owner' means
a. In the case of an underground storage tank In use on July 12, 1985, or
brought into use after that date, any person who owns an underground storage tank used for the storage, use or dispensing of regulated substances; and
b. In the case of any underground storage tank In use before July 12,
1985, but no longer In service on July 12, 1985, any person who owned such tank immediately before the discontinuation of its use.
(12) 'Person' means any individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, federal
agency, corporation (including a government corporation), partnership, association, state, municipality, commission, political subdivision of a state or any interstate body,
(13) *Regulated substance' means:
a. Any substance defined In §101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental
Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. §9061(14); but not including any substances regulated as a hazardous waste under Delaware's Regulations Governing Hazardous Wastes;
a. Petroleum, Including crude oil or any fraction thereof, which Is liquid at standard conditions of temperature and pressure (60 degrees Fahrenheit and 14.7 pounds per square Inch absolute).
(14) 'Release’ means any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping,
leaching or disposing into groundwater, surface water or soils.
(15) 'Removal' means the process of removing and disposing of an underground
storage tank system, through use of prescribed techniques for the purging of residues and vapors and removal of the vessel from the ground.
(16) 'Responsible party' means any person who:
a. Owns or has a legal or equitable Interest in a facility or an
underground storage tank;
a. Operates or otherwise controls activities at a facility;
b. At the time of storage of regulated substances In an underground storage tank, operated or otherwise controlled activities at the facility or underground storage tank, or owned or held a legal or equitable Interest therein;
a. Arranged for or agreed to the placement of an underground storage tank system by contract, agreement or otherwise; or
b. Caused or contributed to a release from an underground storage tank system; or
a. Caused a release as a result of transfer of a regulated substance to or from an underground storage tank system.
(17) 'Retrofit' means modification or correction of an underground storage
tank system to meet standards contained in regulations promulgated under this Chapter through such means as replacement of valves, fill pipes, vents, and liquid level monitoring systems, and the installation of overfill protection, transfer spill protection, leak detection and cathodic protection devices; but the term does not Include the process of relining an underground tank through application of such materials as epoxy resins, nor does the term Include the process of conducting a tightness test to establish the integrity of the tank.
(18) 'Secretary' means the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources
and Environmental Control,
(19) 'State' means the State of Delaware.
(20) 'Underground storage tank' means a containment vessel, including
underground pipes connected thereto, which is used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances, and the volume of which, including the volume of the underground pipes connected thereto, is 10 per centum or more beneath the surface of the ground. Such term does not Include any:
a. Septic tank.
b. Pipeline facility (including gathering lines) regulated under:
I. The Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 (49 U.S C. §1671 et
Seq.), or
2. The Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979 (49 U,S.C, §2001
et seq.), or
3. Any Interstate agreement comparable to those acts set forth in
subparagraphs 1. and 2. of this paragraph.
c. Surface Impoundment, pit, pond, lagoon;
d. Storm water wastewater collection system;
e. Flow-through process tank;
a. Liquid trap or associated gathering lines directly related to oil or
gas production or gathering operations; or
a. Storage tank situated in an underground area (such as basement, cellar,
mineworking drift, shaft or tunnel)- if the storage tank Is situated upon or above the surface of the floor.
(21) 'Underground storage tank system' means an underground storage tank and
its associated ancillary equipment and containment system, if any.
(22) 'Used oil' means a petroleum-based synthetic oil used as an engine
lubricant, engine oil, motor oil or lubricating oil for use in an internal combustion engine, or a lubricant for motor vehicle transmissions, gears or axles which through use, storage, or handling has become unsuitable for its original purpose due to the presence of impurities or loss of original properties. (65 Del.Laws, c. 161, I.)."
Section 2. Amend §7404 (2), Title 7 of the Delaware Code by adding "of 1100 gallons or less" between the words "fuels" and "which" on line 1.
Section 3. Amend §7405(a)(2), Title 7 of the Delaware Code by changing the period in line 2 to a semicolon and adding "provided, however, that existing heating fuel tanks of greater than 1100 gallon capacity Shall be registered within 180 days of the effective date of this Act.
Section 4. Amend §7405(a)(3), Title 7 of the Delaware Code by changing the period in
line 5 to a semicolon and adding "provided, however, that abandoned or nonoperational heating fuel tanks of greater than 1100 gallons capacity shall be registered within 180 days of the effective date of this Act."
Section 5. Amend §7407, Title 7 of the Delaware Code by adding new subsection (d):
"d. All underground storage tank system fill lines shall be clearly marked to
indicate the size of the tank and the type of regulated substances stored, within 180 days of the effective date of this act; as provided In regulations established under this Chapter.
Section 6. Amend §7411, Title 7 of the Delaware Code by adding a new subsection (f):
"f. If the violation consists solely of a failure to register an underground storage tank or submit other notifications as required, the Secretary may elect to bring a civil action In the Justice of the Peace Court for a penalty not to exceed $1.000. Each day of violation shall be considered as a separate violation."
Section 7. Amend §7411, Title 7 of the Delaware Code by adding a new subsection (g):
"g. Any expenses or civil penalties collected by the Department under this action shall be credited to the Administration fund established under §7418 (d) of this Chapter.
Approved July 20, 1988.