SRR Program Changes
This is where we'll announce the most recent additions or changes to our program. If you've visited us before and want to know what's changed, take a look here.
Effective April 1, 2008: To facilitate documentation of fuel consumption and the cost of fuel a Fuel Surcharge Worksheet calculation tool has been created to assist Claimant/Consultants. For each fuel surcharge greater than $50 claimed under the 007 UCR schedule and invoiced on or after April 1, 2008 the Fuel Surcharge Worksheet must be completed and be included in the claim.
New Reimbursement Files - Manuals/UCR's
USE of the 007 UCRS: The new Reimbursement Guidance (Volume III) and the 007 UCRs (Volume IV) are to be used when DEQ correspondence dated on or after March 1, 2007 directs a responsible party/consultant to initiate a new phase or new subphase of work. All other work shall be completed using Volumes I & II of the Reimbursement Guidance.
WEB Changes
Looking to find the most recent additions to our web site? If you've visited us before and want to know what's changed, take a look here.
NEWS:More fields have been added to the Registration database files. Check out the latest download on the Files and Forms page.
Read how the Virginia DEQ will be amending the Underground Storage Tanks:�Technical Standards and Corrective Action Requirements Regulation (9 VAC 25-580)...
NEWS:See new information on the Reimbursement page related to the new C code for fuel surcharges.
There are new Lender Liability Exemption Guidelines at the Guidance webpage. Summary: This memorandum summarizes the procedures for lenders and DEQ central office petroleum staff to use to assess whether a particular lender qualifies for an exemption to statutory and regulatory liability for underground storage tank compliance and cleanup requirements.
ARTICLES:
Here, you will find HOT TOPICS regarding the petroleum tank program.
SRR Program Changes
What's New for the Petroleum Program?
ARTICLES:
Department of Environmental Quality Issues Brief:
MTBE Contamination in Virginia Groundwater
Overview:
There are thousands of gasoline stations and other petroleum storage facilities throughout Virginia. No one who owns a petroleum storage tank intends to have a leak from a tank, but it does happen. Since 1988, over 15,000 locations in Virginia have reported leaking petroleum storage tanks to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). These leaking tanks range from the 250 gallon home heating oil tank, to the family-owned convenience store with a couple of 5,000 gallon underground storage tanks, to the major distributing facility with over a million gallons of underground and above ground storage tank capacity. Leaking petroleum storage tanks have caused contamination in about 450 drinking water wells.
In order to assist interested persons, the DEQ is mapping all confirmed petroleum spill locations in Virginia. This mapping system should be available soon.
MTBE
Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is a highly soluble gasoline additive that came into use in the 1980s. Its initial use, as an octane booster, was limited; however, after passage of the U.S. Clean Air Act in 1990, MTBE became widely used as a gasoline oxygenate (see MTBE and Air Quality section). MTBE is used in most gasoline but is not used in most other petroleum products; consequently MTBE is generally associated with gasoline spills. MTBE concentrations as high as 48,000 parts per billion (PPB) have been found in some samples of untreated well water near spill sites in Virginia. Of the 200 active wells with petroleum contamination, approximately 70 have MTBE contamination only.
MTBE levels of 20 to 40 PPB can generally cause a noticeable change in drinking water taste and odor (actual level varies by individual). Because this taste threshold is low, most people will notice the presence of MTBE before any laboratory tests are conducted.
MTBE is not regarded as the most harmful part of gasoline. Other soluble components of gasoline such as benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene, and xylenes (collectively referred to as BTEX), are known to be harmful to humans. The health effects of MTBE are currently the subject of much debate but appear to be much less severe than those of BTEX (and of many other potential groundwater contaminants.) The chemical properties of MTBE cause it to generally travel faster and farther in the ground and in groundwater than the other components of gasoline. When gasoline is spilled, MTBE is often found in places that the other components of the gasoline have not yet or will never reach. MTBE also tends to be harder to remove from water through engineering processes and is less likely to biodegrade than other gasoline components. Those characteristics, combined with the limited knowledge regarding human health effects are generating much concern about the continued addition of MTBE to a product as widely used as gasoline. MTBE in Drinking Water The DEQ takes a straightforward and risk-based approach to cleaning up petroleum contamination. Drinking water contamination is generally the most significant risk the petroleum program encounters.The DEQ works closely with local and state Health Department Offices anytime petroleum contamination, including MTBE, is discovered in a drinking water supply. The DEQ has adopted a zero-tolerance stance with regard to any report of petroleum contaminants (including MTBE) in private (unmonitored) drinking water wells. In such cases DEQ staff act to ensure that an alternate source of uncontaminated drinking water is available immediately. For public (regularly monitored) water supplies contaminated by petroleum/MTBE, the DEQ and the Health Department work closely together to ensure corrective action if contamination levels exceed State Health Department Standards. The immediate and often temporary solution to petroleum contaminated drinking water is the installation of a carbon filtration unit. Even as a filtration system is being placed on a contaminated water well, the DEQ regional case manager and the AWS program manager begin to examine options for a long-term and hopefully permanent alternate water supply. In most cases, the long-term solution to a contaminated water well is the installation of a replacement well. The difficulty with replacement wells comes in securing a new well location yielding water that is and will remain free of petroleum and MTBE. It is important to avoid installing a replacement well that may become contaminated some weeks, months, or even years later. The ideal alternate water supply is connection to a municipal water system. Municipal water systems are public water supplies (PWS) which are regulated by the State Department of Health (SHD). This means the SHD requires periodic sampling of the water supply for bacterial and chemical contaminants. If contamination is detected, the PWS is required to take actions to mitigate the contamination.
Preventing Leaks
Aboveground and underground petroleum storage tanks used for business purposes are now subject to regulatory requirements for preventative measures designed to reduce the likelihood that the tanks will leak. Requirements include corrosion protection and routine monitoring of the tanks. Despite all the preventative measures now employed by tank owners and operators across the state, leaks will still undoubtedly occur. The reason can be human error, equipment failure, negligence, natural disaster, or some other type of accident. Regardless, the DEQ will continue to work with persons and businesses owning and/or operating storage tanks to prevent releases of petroleum and to clean up petroleum contamination as necessary to protect human health and the environment.
MTBE and Air Quality in Virginia
MTBE is a component of the "federal" reformulated gasoline (RFG) added to enhance combustion-making gasoline burn more completely. This results in fewer carbon monoxide emissions from the tailpipe.
Under the Clean Air Act, the use of RFG Phase I was implemented in January, 1995; Phase II began January, 2000. There is no specific requirement for MTBE in gasoline, rather the requirement is for RFG to contain 2% by weight of some oxygenate-a compound that allows more oxygen to be present during combustion, thus allowing more complete burning. The two oxygenates being used in gasoline are MTBE and Ethanol. Ethanol, an alcohol made from grain, is in use in the Midwest where it is manufactured but transport problems prevent its cost-effective use elsewhere. MTBE is the oxygenate of choice for most of the country. The 2% by weight requirement translates to about 10% by volume. That is, for every 10 gallons of gasoline, about 1 gallon is MTBE. Even conventional gasoline contains a varying amount of MTBE, from 3%-8% by volume, as an octane booster.
RFG is primarily used in the Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads areas of Virginia but may appear in other parts of the state as well. These areas are under non-attainment or maintenance designations by EPA for the pollutant ozone. The use of RFG has contributed to a reduction of over 6,900 tons per year in motor vehicle emissions. However, it is unclear what percentage of those emissions reductions can be attributed to the oxygenate exclusively. Investigation is underway to determine that percentage. In November, 1998, EPA established a blue ribbon panel on the use of MTBE and other oxygenates in gasoline; EPA Blue Ribbon Panel
In July 1999, the panel released recommendations that Congress remove the oxygenate mandate for RFG and that MTBE should be substantially reduced or eliminated. If MTBE is eliminated, and regardless of whether the 2% oxygenate mandate remains, it is likely that refiners will need something to act as a substitute. Ethanol seems to be the most viable option. Most ethanol comes from grain and is difficult to transport and blend but there is new technology allowing ethanol to be produced from agricultural wastes.
U.S. Senate Bill 1886 (Feinstein & Inhofe), introduced November 9, 1999, would allow individual states to opt out of the RFG program.
Heating Oil Tanks
Owners of Home Heating Oil Tanks should be performing monthly preventative maintenance. The Office of Spill Response & Remediation at DEQ offers a Check List of items that should be performed each month. This file, Home Heating Oil Tanks Monthly Checklists, is a MS Word file.
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