SENATE, No. 530
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED JANUARY 29, 1996
By Senator BASSANO
An Act concerning underground heating oil storage tanks, and amending and supplementing P.L.1986, c.102.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 2 of P.L.1986, c.102 (C.58:10A-22) is amended to read as follows:
2. As used in this act:
[a.] "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection;
[b.] "Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection;
[c.] "Discharge" means the intentional or unintentional release by any means of hazardous substances from an underground storage tank into the environment;
[d.] "Facility" means one or more underground storage tanks;
[e.] "Hazardous substances" means motor fuels and those elements and compounds, including petroleum products which are liquid at standard conditions of temperature and pressure (60 degrees Fahrenheit and 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute), which are defined as hazardous substances by the department after public hearing, and which shall be consistent to the maximum extent possible with and which shall include the list of hazardous wastes adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to section 3001 of the "Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976," Pub.L.94-580 (42 U.S.C. §6921), the list of hazardous substances adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to section 311 of the "Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972," Pub.L.92-500 (33 U.S.C. §1321), the list of toxic pollutants designated by Congress or the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to section 307 of that act (33 U.S.C. §1317), and any substance defined as a hazardous substance pursuant to section 101(14) of the "Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980," Pub.L.96-510 (42 U.S.C. §9601);
[f.] "Leak" means the release of a hazardous substance from an underground storage tank into a space created by a method of secondary containment wherein it can be detected by visual inspection or a monitoring system before it enters the environment;
[g.] "Monitoring system" means a system capable of detecting leaks or discharges, or both, other than an inventory control system, used in conjunction with an underground storage tank, or a facility, conforming to criteria established pursuant to section 5 of [this act] P.L.1986, c.102 (C.58:10A-25) ;
[h.] "Nonoperational storage tank" means any underground storage tank in which hazardous substances are not contained, or from which hazardous substances are not dispensed;
[I.] "Operator" means any person in control of, or having responsibility for, the daily operation of a facility;
[j.] "Owner" means any person who owns a facility, or in the case of a nonoperational storage tank, the person who owned the nonoperational storage tank immediately prior to the discontinuation of its use;
[k.] "Person" means any individual, partnership, company, corporation, consortium, joint venture, commercial or any other legal entity, the State of New Jersey, or the United States Government;
[l.] "Residential building" means a single and multi-family dwelling, nursing home, trailer, condominium, boarding house, apartment house, or other structure designed primarily for use as a dwelling;
[m.] "Secondary containment" means an additional layer of impervious material creating a space wherein a leak of hazardous substances from an underground storage tank may be detected before it enters the environment;
[n.] "Substantially modify" means construction at, or restoration, refurbishment or renovation of, an existing facility which increases or decreases the in-place storage capacity of the facility or alters the physical configuration or impairs or affects the physical integrity of the facility or its monitoring systems;
[o.] "Test" or "testing" means the testing of underground storage tanks in accordance with standards adopted by the department;
[p.] "Underground heating oil storage tank" means any one or combination of tanks, including appurtenant pipes, lines, fixtures, and other related equipment, used to contain an accumulation of heating oil for on-site consumption in a residential or nonresidential building, the volume of which, including the volume of appurtenant pipes, lines, fixtures and other related equipment, is 10% or more below the ground;
"Underground storage tank" means any one or combination of tanks, including appurtenant pipes, lines, fixtures, and other related equipment, used to contain an accumulation of hazardous substances, the volume of which, including the volume of the appurtenant pipes, lines, fixtures and other related equipment, is 10% or more below the ground. "Underground storage tank" shall not include:
(1) Farm or residential tanks of 1,100 gallons or less capacity used for storing motor fuel for noncommercial purposes;
(2) Tanks used to store heating oil for on-site consumption in a nonresidential building with a capacity of 2,000 gallons or less;
(3) Tanks used to store heating oil for on-site consumption in a residential building;
(4) Septic tanks installed in compliance with regulations adopted by the department pursuant to "The Realty Improvement Sewerage and Facilities Act (1954)," P.L.1954, c.199 (C.58:11-23 et seq.);
(5) Pipelines, including gathering lines, regulated under the "Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968," Pub.L.90-481 (49 U.S.C. §1671 et seq.), the "Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979," Pub.L.96-129 (49 U.S.C. §2001 et seq.), or intrastate pipelines regulated under State law;
(6) Surface impoundments, pits, ponds, or lagoons, operated in compliance with regulations adopted by the department pursuant to the "Water Pollution Control Act," P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-1 et seq.);
(7) Storm water or wastewater collection systems operated in compliance with regulations adopted by the department pursuant to the "Water Pollution Control Act";
(8) Liquid traps or associated gathering lines directly related to oil or gas production and gathering operations;
(9) Tanks situated in an underground area, including, but not limited to, basements, cellars, mines, drift shafts, or tunnels, if the storage tank is situated upon or above the surface of the floor, or storage tanks located below the surface of the ground which are equipped with secondary containment and are uncovered so as to allow visual inspection of the exterior of the tank; and
(10) Any pipes, lines, fixtures, or other equipment connected to any tank otherwise exempted from any or all of the provisions of this act pursuant to [paragraphs (1) through (9) of] this subsection [.] ;
[q.] "Wellhead protection area" means an aquifer area described in a plan view around a well, from within which groundwater flows to the well and through which groundwater pollution, if it occurs, may pose a significant threat to the water quality of the well. The wellhead.protection area is delimited by the use of time-of-travel and hydrologic boundaries.
(cf: P.L.1994, c.14, s.1)
2. (New section) a. The owner of a nonoperational underground heating oil storage tank with a capacity of less than 2,000 gallons shall remove or close the tank prior to the sale or transfer of the property on which the tank is located.
b. In the case of the removal of an underground heating oil storage tank pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the owner shall take whatever action is necessary to abate, contain, clean up, or remove, or any combination thereof, any discharge from the tank which has entered groundwater resources.
c. In the case of the closure of an underground heating oil storage tank pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the closure shall meet the standards established by the department for closure of underground storage tanks pursuant to P.L.1986, c.102 (C.58:10A-21 et seq.).
3. (New section) Failure of the transferor to comply with any of the provisions of this act or regulations adopted pursuant thereto is grounds for voiding the sale or transfer, entitles the transferee to recover damages from the transferor, and renders the transferor strictly liable, without regard to fault, for the cost of any cleanup or removal connected with the underground heating oil storage tank which may later be required by State or federal law.
4. (New section) Nothing in this act shall be construed to limit the department's authority to respond to, or remove or clean up, a discharge pursuant to the provisions of any other State or federal law.
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require that the owner of an underground heating oil storage tank, which has a capacity of 2,000 gallons or less and is not in use, must either remove or close that tank prior to sale or transfer of the property on which the tank is located. In the case of removal, the owner would be required to clean up any discharges which have entered groundwater resources, and in the case of closure, the closure would be subject to the standards of the Underground Storage Tank program. Failure to comply with the provisions of the act would be grounds for voiding a sale or transfer and would render a tranferor liable for damages and future cleanup and removal costs.
Under current law, underground heating oil storage tanks are largely excluded from the requirements of the Underground Storage Tank program. By requiring that heating oil tanks which are not in use at the time of sale or transfer must be removed or properly closed, this bill will insure that abandoned heating oil tanks will not eventually pollute the groundwater of the State.
Requires removal or closure of certain heating oil tanks prior to sale or transfer.