81-15,123. State Fire Marshal; rules and regulations; considerations; requirements.

The State Fire Marshal shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations governing release, detection, prevention, and correction procedures applicable to all owners and operators as shall be necessary to protect human health, public safety, and the environment. Such rules and regulations may distinguish between types, classes, and ages of tanks. In making such distinctions, the State Fire Marshal shall consider, but not be limited to, location of the tanks, soil and climate conditions, uses of the tanks, history of maintenance, age of the tanks, current industry-recommended practices, national consensus codes, hydrogeology, depth to the ground water, size of the tanks, quantity of regulated substances periodically deposited in or dispensed from the tanks, the technical capability of the owners and operators, and the compatibility of the regulated substance and the materials of which the tank is fabricated. Before adoption, such rules and regulations shall be reviewed and approved by the Director of Environment and Energy who shall determine whether the proposed rules and regulations are adequate to protect the environment. Rules and regulations adopted and promulgated pursuant to this section shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) Proper procedures and specifications for the construction, design, installation, replacement, or repair of tanks;

(2) A permit and registration system for all tanks;

(3) A program to establish an inspection system for all tanks. Such program shall provide for periodic safety inspections and spot checks of monitoring systems by the State Fire Marshal. A fee schedule may also be developed for the inspection of new tank and piping installations and tank closures in the manner prescribed in section 81-505.01. Such inspection fees shall be remitted by the State Fire Marshal to the State Treasurer for credit to the Underground Storage Tank Fund. No fee shall be charged for the periodic safety inspections and spot checks of monitoring systems by the State Fire Marshal;

(4) A monitoring system for all tanks which includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(a) An inventory-control procedure for any tank used to hold petroleum products or hazardous substances for resale;

(b) An inventory-control procedure for any tank used solely for consumptive onsite purposes and not for resale. Such control procedure shall determine the method of inventory measurement giving consideration to the economic burden created by the procedure. The frequency of inventory measurement for such category of tank shall include at least one measurement every thirty days;

(c) Provisions for the prompt reporting of any release of a regulated substance; and

(d) A procedure for the proper method of monitoring tanks;

(5) A procedure for notifying the State Fire Marshal of temporarily or permanently abandoned tanks;

(6) A procedure for removing or making safe any abandoned tanks, except that the State Fire Marshal may dispense with such procedure in special circumstances;

(7) Financial responsibility requirements, taking into account the financial responsibility requirements established pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 6991b(d);

(8) Requirements for maintaining a leak-detection system, an inventory-control system, and a tank-testing or comparable system or method designed to identify releases in a manner consistent with the protection of human health, public safety, and the environment;

(9) Requirements for maintaining records of any monitoring or leak-detection system, inventory-control system, or tank-testing or comparable system;

(10) Provisions to establish a system for licensing tank installation and removal contractors;

(11) Provisions to prohibit delivery to, deposit into, or the acceptance of a regulated substance into, an underground storage tank at a facility which has been identified by the State Fire Marshal to be ineligible for such delivery, deposit, or acceptance; and

(12) Effective August 8, 2009, requirements for training and certification of operators.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a subcontractor working under the direction of a licensed installation or removal contractor to be licensed.

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