The Remediation Division oversees the assessment and cleanup of
leaking petroleum storage tanks (LPSTs), which include sites that
are handled by the responsible party (RP) and by the state (State-Lead).
The program's mission is to supervise the cleanup of spills from
regulated storage tanks by recording and evaluating all reported
incidents of releases of petroleum and other hazardous substances
from underground and above-ground storage tanks. The goal is to
assure that the public is not exposed to hazardous levels of
contamination by requiring the removal of the contamination to
levels protective of human health and the environment.
The owner or operator of a regulated storage tank is required
to notify the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
within 24 hours of any discharge or spill that causes or could
cause pollution to the waters of the State of Texas. Notification
may be by:
Emergency situations should be reported to the TCEQ State-Lead
Emergency Response Project Manager at 512/239-2120, or at pager
number 512/606-9197 after normal business hours or on weekends.
To ensure that a release incident has been abated, and that the
contamination resulting from the release incident is properly
assessed and remediated, the Remediation Division monitors all
reported incidents, from initial environmental assessments, through
corrective action plans and requests for closure.
As of August 31, 2005, the TCEQ has been notified of 24,155
leaking petroleum storage tanks. Of this total, 9,026 were
confirmed to have affected groundwater. Since the initiation of the
program, 20,079 LPST cases have been closed.
Legal Authority
The EPA has delegated regulatory authority to the state of
Texas to oversee releases from regulated storage tanks within the
state. The statute creating and governing the Texas PST Program is
the Texas Water Code, Chapter 26, Subchapter I. The regulations
governing the program are included in
30 Texas Administrative Code §334
.
House Bill 1588 created the petroleum storage tank
reimbursement (PSTR) fund, which is the primary funding source for
the Texas State-Lead Program.
