LIABILITY FOR RELEASES FROM STORAGE TANKS
The person responsible for cleaning up a petroleum release and/or complying with other regulatory and statutory requirements depends upon several factors. As a general rule, the responsible person is the owner or operator of an underground storage tank (UST) or the operator of an aboveground storage tank (AST) on the date that the release is reported to DEQ. Differences in the statutory provisions governing USTs and ASTs make it necessary to consider each type of tank separately when determining who is responsible for a release.
Requirements for Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) are established by Article 9 of State Water Control Law and the UST Technical Regulation (9 VAC 25-580-10 et seq.). The responsible person for releases from regulated, deferred, partially deferred, and excluded USTs (as defined in the UST Technical Regulation) is the owner and/or operator of the UST on the date that the release is reported to or discovered by DEQ. UST owners and operators are equally liable for the cleanup under State Water Control Law. As a procedural matter, the DEQ normally requires the UST owner to clean up the release, but may pursue the operator in some instances.
When a release from a regulated, deferred, partially deferred, or excluded UST is reported to or discovered by DEQ, DEQ staff will determine the responsible person based upon the following presumptions:
1. The release from the UST is presumed to have occurred at the time of discovery or the date that the release is reported to DEQ, whichever is earlier.
2. The UST owner listed on the Notification Form is the person responsible for the cleanup and compliance with the UST Technical Regulation. The owner listed on the Notification Form is the responsible person regardless of whether this person used the UST.
3. If DEQ has not received a Notification Form, the current landowner is presumed to be the UST owner.
Discharges of oil from ASTs and those USTs that are exempt from the UST Technical Regulation are governed by Article 11 of State Water Control Law. Under Article 11, the person(s) responsible for cleaning up a discharge of oil are the person discharging, causing, or permitting the discharge and any operator of the facility from which the discharge occurred. Article 11 differs from Article 9 and the UST Technical Regulation in that a person who causes a discharge (sometimes called the “spiller”) is also liable to conduct a cleanup, even if the spiller neither owns nor operates the facility where the discharge occurred. Under Article 11, the person who caused the discharge (the spiller) and the person who permitted the discharge (the operator) are equally liable. Where the spiller and the operator are different persons, DEQ will pursue the spiller.
For additional information about DEQ procedures related to responsible person determinations, please see Chapter 3 of the Storage Tank Program Technical Manual.