The Board is responsible for carrying out the provisions of this article and compatible provisions of federal acts and is authorized to:

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Terms Used In Virginia Code 62.1-44.34:9

  • Board: means the State Water Control Board. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
  • Facility: means any development or installation within the Commonwealth that deals in, stores or handles oil, and includes aboveground storage tanks. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.34:8
  • Oil: means oil of any kind and in any form, including, but not limited to, petroleum and petroleum by-products, fuel oil, lubricating oils, sludge, oil refuse, oil mixed with other wastes, crude oils and all other liquid hydrocarbons regardless of specific gravity. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.34:8
  • Operator of an underground storage tank: means any person in control of, or having responsibility for, the daily operation of the underground storage tank. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.34:8
  • Owner: means the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions, including but not limited to sanitation district commissions and authorities and any public or private institution, corporation, association, firm, or company organized or existing under the laws of this or any other state or country, or any officer or agency of the United States, or any person or group of persons acting individually or as a group that owns, operates, charters, rents, or otherwise exercises control over or is responsible for any actual or potential discharge of sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes to state waters, or any facility or operation that has the capability to alter the physical, chemical, or biological properties of state waters in contravention of § Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
  • Person: means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation, including a government corporation, partnership, association, any state or agency thereof, municipality, county, town, commission, political subdivision of a state, any interstate body, consortium, joint venture, commercial entity, the government of the United States or any unit or agency thereof. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.34:8
  • Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
  • regulated substance: includes :

    1. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.34:8

  • Regulation: means a regulation issued under subdivision (10) of § Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
  • Release: means any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching, or disposing from an underground storage tank or facility into ground water, surface water, or upon lands, subsurface soils or storm drain systems. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.34:8
  • Standards: means standards established under subdivisions (3a) and (3b) of § Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
  • Underground storage tank: means any one or combination of tanks, including connecting pipes, used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances, and the volume of which, including the volume of the underground connecting pipes, is ten percent or more beneath the surface of the ground. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.34:8
  • United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255

1. Enforce the interim prohibition provisions in § 9003 (g) of United States Public Law 98-616. Until state underground storage tank standards promulgated by regulation become effective, the Board shall enforce the federal interim standard which prohibits installation of an underground storage tank for the purpose of storing regulated substances unless such tank:

a. Will prevent releases due to corrosion or structural failure for the operational life of the tank;

b. Is cathodically protected against corrosion, constructed of noncorrosive material, or designed in a manner to prevent the release or threatened release of any stored substance; and

c. The material used in the construction or lining of the tank is compatible with the substance to be stored.

2. Exercise general supervision and control over underground storage tank activities in this Commonwealth.

3. Provide technical assistance and advice concerning all aspects of underground storage tank management.

4. Collect such data and information as may be necessary to conduct the state underground storage tank program.

5. Apply for such federal funds as may become available under federal acts and transmit such funds to appropriate persons.

6. Require notification by owners of underground storage tanks in accordance with the provisions of § 9002 of United States Public Law 98-616.

7. Require notification by owners of property who have actual knowledge of underground storage tanks on such property that were taken out of service before January 1, 1974; however, the civil penalties specified in § 9006 (d) of United States Public Law 98-616 shall not apply to the foregoing notification requirement.

8. Promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry out its powers and duties with regard to underground storage tanks in accordance with applicable federal laws and regulations.

9. Require the owner or operator of an underground storage tank who is the responsible person for the release to undertake corrective action for any release of petroleum or any other regulated substance when the Board determines that such corrective action will be done properly and promptly by the owner or operator of the underground storage tank from which the release occurs, regardless of when the release occurred; or undertake corrective action for any release of petroleum or any other regulated substance into the environment from an underground storage tank if such action is necessary, in the judgment of the Board, to protect human health and the environment.

10. Seek recovery of costs incurred, excluding moneys expended from the Virginia Petroleum Storage Tank Fund which are governed by § 62.1-44.34:11, for undertaking corrective action or enforcement action with respect to the release of a regulated substance from an underground storage tank or oil from a facility.

1987, c. 528; 1989, c. 430; 1992, c. 819; 1993, c. 231; 1996, c. 737.