As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
ABOVEGROUND STORAGE TANK (AST)
One or a combination of stationary tanks with a total capacity
in excess of 250 gallons, including underground pipes and dispensing
systems connected thereto within the emergency containment area, which
is or was used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances,
and the volume of which, including the volume of piping within the
storage tank facility, is greater than 90% above the surface of the
ground. The term includes tanks which can be visually inspected, from
the exterior, in an underground area. The term does not include the
following, or pipes connected thereto:
(a)
A tank of 1,100 gallons or less capacity used
for storing motor fuel or motor oil for noncommercial purposes.
(b)
A tank used for storing heating oil for consumptive
use on the premises where stored.
(c)
A pipeline facility, including gathering lines,
regulated under:
[1]
The Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968
(49 U.S.C.A. App. §§ 1671 through 1687).
[2]
The Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of
1979 (49 U.S.C.A. §§ 2001 through 2015).
[3]
An interstate or intrastate pipeline facility regulated under state laws comparable to the provisions of law referred to in Subsection
(c)[1] or
[2].
(d)
A surface impoundment, pit, pond, or lagoon.
(e)
A stormwater or wastewater collection system.
(f)
A flow-through process tank, including, but
not limited to, a pressure vessel and oil and water separators.
(g)
A nonstationary tank liquid trap or associated
gathering lines directly related to oil and gas production or gathering
operations.
(h)
Tanks which are used to store brines, crude
oil, drilling or frac fluids and similar substances or materials and
are directly related to the exploration, development or production
of crude oil or natural gas regulated under the Oil and Gas Act (58
P.S. §§ 601.101 through 601.605).
(i)
Tanks regulated under the Surface Mining Conservation
and Reclamation Act (52 P.S. §§ 1396.1 through 1396.31).
(j)
Tanks used for the storage of products which
are regulated under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C.A.
§§ 6018.101 through 6018.1003).
(k)
Tanks regulated under the Solid Waste Management
Act (35 P.S. §§ 6018.101 through 6018.1003) including,
but not limited to, piping, tanks, collection and treatment systems
used for leachate, methane gas and methane gas condensate management.
(l)
A tank of 1,100 gallons or less in capacity
located on a farm used solely to store or contain substances that
are used to facilitate the production of crops, livestock and livestock
products on the farm.
(m)
Tanks which are used to store propane gas.
(n)
Tanks containing radioactive materials or coolants
that are regulated under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C.A.
§§ 2011 through 2297).
(o)
Tanks regulated under the Act of May 2, 1929
(P.L. 1513, No. 451), known as the "Boiler Regulation Law" (35 P.S.
§§ 1301 through 1500).
(p)
Equipment or machinery that contains regulated
substances for operational purposes, such as hydraulic lift tanks
and electrical equipment tanks.
(q)
A tank that contains a de minimis concentration
of regulated substances.
(r)
An emergency spill or overflow containment tank
that is expeditiously emptied after use.
(s)
Other tanks excluded by regulations promulgated
under the Act.
ACT
The Storage Tank and Spill Prevention Act (35 P.S. §§ 6021.101
through 6021.2104).
ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT
Electrical, vapor recovery, access or other systems and devices,
including, but not limited to, devices such as piping, fittings, flanges,
valves and pumps used to distribute, meter, monitor or control the
flow of regulated substances to or from a storage tank system.
CATHODIC PROTECTION
A technique to prevent corrosion of a metal surface by making
that surface the cathode of an electrochemical cell.
COMPATIBLE
The ability of two or more substances to maintain their respective
physical and chemical properties upon contact with one another for
the design life of the tank system under conditions likely to be encountered
in the tank system.
CONSUMPTIVE USE
With respect to heating oil, that which is consumed on the
premises.
CONTAINMENT STRUCTURE/FACILITY
Anything built, installed or established which comes in contact
with regulated substances that are spilled, leaked, emitted, discharged,
escaped, leached or disposed from a storage tank or storage tank system.
The term includes, but is not limited to, a vault, dike, wall, building
or secondary containment structure around an underground or aboveground
storage tank, or any rock or other fill material placed around an
underground storage tank.
DE MINIMIS
With regard to products containing regulated substances,
the term applies when the regulated substance is of insufficient concentration
to be required to appear on a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). The
term does not apply to Section 507 of the Act (35 P.S. § 6021.507)
as it pertains to site contamination.
EMERGENCY CONTAINMENT
A containment structure which serves to convey, capture and
contain the total volume of an anticipated release of regulated substance
from an aboveground or underground storage tank system and which is
expeditiously emptied.
LIQUID TRAP
Sumps, well cellars and other traps used in association with
oil and gas production, gathering and extraction operations (including
gas production plants), for the purpose of collecting oil, water and
other liquids. The liquid traps may temporarily collect liquids for
subsequent disposition or reinjection into a production or pipeline
stream, or may collect and separate liquids from a gas stream.
PERMANENTLY AFFIXED
Not able to be moved from its resting place by design or
which is connected to real property by piping or other structure.
PIPE or PIPING
A hollow cylinder or tubular conduit that is constructed
of nonearthen materials. This term(s) includes the associated fittings,
such as unions, elbows, tees and flexible joints.
PRIMARY CONTAINMENT SYSTEM
The first level of containment, such as the portion of a
tank that comes into immediate contact on its inner surface with the
regulated substance.
PRODUCT TIGHT
Impervious to the substance that is contained, or is to be
contained, so as to prevent the seepage of the substance from the
containment structure.
REGULATED SUBSTANCE
An element, compound, mixture, solution or substance that,
when released into the environment, may present substantial danger
to the public health, welfare or the environment which is one of the
following:
(a)
A substance defined as a hazardous substance
in Section 101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C.A. § 9601) but not including
a substance regulated as a hazardous waste under Subtitle C of the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C.A. §§ 6921
through 6931).
(b)
Petroleum, including crude oil or a fraction
thereof and hydrocarbons which are liquid at standard conditions of
temperature and pressure (60°F and 14.7 pounds per square inch
absolute), including, but not limited to, oil, petroleum, fuel oil,
oil sludge, oil refuse, oil mixed with other nonhazardous wastes and
crude oils, gasoline and kerosene.
(c)
Other substances determined by the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection by regulation whose containment,
storage, use or dispensing may present a hazard to the public health
and safety or the environment, but not including gaseous substances
used exclusively for the administration of medical care.
(d)
The term does not include the storage or use
of animal waste in normal agricultural practices.
RELEASE
Spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching
or disposing from a storage tank into surface waters and groundwaters
of this commonwealth or soils or subsurface soils in an amount equal
to or greater than the reportable released quantity determined under
Section 102 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C.A. § 9602), and regulations
promulgated thereunder, or an amount equal to or greater than a discharge
as defined in Section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
(33 U.S.C.A. § 1321) and regulations promulgated thereunder.
The term also includes spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping,
leaching or disposing from a storage tank into a containment structure
or facility that poses an immediate threat of contamination of the
soils, subsurface soils, surface water or groundwater.
SECONDARY CONTAINMENT SYSTEM
An additional layer of impervious material creating a space
in which a release of a regulated substance from a storage tank may
be detected before it enters the environment.
STATIONARY TANK
An aboveground storage tank that is permanently affixed to
the real property on which the tank is located.
STORAGE TANK
An aboveground or underground storage tank as defined herein
which is used for the storage of a regulated substance.
STORAGE TANK SYSTEM
An underground or aboveground storage tank as defined herein,
associated underground or aboveground piping directly serving that
storage tank, and one or more of the following which are directly
associated with that storage tank:
(c)
Containment structure or facility.
(d)
Corrosion protection system.
(e)
Release detection system.
(f)
Spill and overfill protection system.
TANK
A stationary device designed to contain an accumulation of
regulated substances and constructed of nonearthen materials, for
example, concrete, steel or plastic, that provide structural support.
UNDERGROUND AREA
An underground room, such as a basement, cellar, shaft or
vault, providing enough space for physical inspection of the exterior
of the tank situated on or above the surface of the floor.
UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK (UST)
One or a combination of tanks (including underground pipes
connected thereto) which are used to contain an accumulation of regulated
substances, and the volume of which (including the volume of underground
pipes connected thereto) is 10% or more beneath the surface of the
ground. The term does not include:
(a)
Farm or residential tanks of 1,100 gallons or
less capacity used for storing motor fuel for noncommercial purposes.
(b)
Tanks used for storing heating oil for consumptive
use on the premises where stored unless they are specifically required
to be regulated by federal law.
(c)
A septic or other subsurface sewage treatment
tank.
(d)
A pipeline facility (including gathering lines)
regulated under:
[1]
The Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968.
[2]
The Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of
1979.
(e)
An interstate or intrastate pipeline facility regulated under state laws comparable to the provisions of law in Subsection
(d).
(f)
Surface impoundments, pits, ponds or lagoons.
(g)
Stormwater or wastewater collection systems.
(h)
Flow-through process tanks.
(i)
Liquid traps or associated gathering lines directly
related to oil or gas production and gathering operations.
(j)
Storage tanks situated in an underground area
(such as a basement, cellar, mine working, drift, shaft or tunnel)
if the tank is situated upon or above the surface of the floor.
(k)
Tanks regulated under the Solid Waste Management
Act, including, but not limited to, piping, tanks, collection and
treatment systems used for leachate, methane gas and methane gas condensate
management, except for tanks subject to 40 CFR Part 280 [relating
to technical standards and corrective action requirements for owners
and operators of underground storage tanks (UST)].
(l)
An underground storage tank system with a capacity
of 110 gallons or less.
(m)
Tanks containing radioactive materials or coolants
that are regulated under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C.A.
§§ 2011 through 2297).
(n)
A wastewater treatment tank system.
(o)
Equipment or machinery that contains regulated
substances for operational purposes, such as hydraulic lift tanks
and electrical equipment tanks.
(p)
An underground storage tank system that contains
a de minimis concentration of regulated substances.
(q)
An emergency spill or overflow containment underground
storage tank system that is expeditiously emptied after use.
(r)
An underground storage tank system that is part
of an emergency generator system at nuclear power generation facilities
regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under 10 CFR Part 50,
Appendix A (relating to general design criteria for nuclear power
plants).
(s)
Other tanks excluded by policy or regulations
promulgated under the Act.