• Have a large number of class C UST operators?
• Frustrated with high turnover rates?
• Have your own in-house company training program?

That’s the question that Ben Thomas of UST Training attempted to answer at a two-hour workshop September 10 at the National Tanks Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Ben has been in the UST industry since 1986 and has been training UST operators throughout the US since 2003. Based on personal experience since then he believes, anecdotally, that things are getting better. But is there a way to prove it? Ben set out to find out.

UST Training’s online Oregon Class A/B UST Operator Training course has been approved by the Oregon DEQ and is now available. Check it out!

For a limited time only: use this coupon code ILOVEOR and get a 15% discount off all purchases through November 1.

First in the Nation, Now first in Oregon. Ben Thomas of UST Training did the nation’s first Class A/B live class in Portland in 2003 and he’s been training there non-stop since then. Now you can enjoy the same great training content but at the convenience of your work or home computer.

Why Online?

Ben Thomas of UST Training recently spoke at the 8th annual Tribal Lands and Environment Forum in Spokane, Washington, which was attended by over 500 people, representing over 160 tribes. The four day conference had a number of breakout sessions in a variety of environmental topics (USTs being one), an exhibit hall, and excellent opening and closing ceremonies. Ben spoke alongside EPA officials about ideas to help the tribes get ready for the October 13, 2018 deadline. UST systems on Indian Country are subject to Federal EPA and not state UST laws, so the October 13, 2018 deadline dominated much of the conversion during the conference. Remote and rural locations of many tribal UST sites make it difficult to service and test tank systems without additional costs.

PEI LINKS UST OWNERS TO TESTING PROCEDURES, CONTRACTORS AS EPA NIXES COMPLIANCE DEADLINE EXTENSION REQUEST

Dear UST Community:

Are you ready!?  October 13, 2018, which is only 11 weeks away, is the deadline for meeting the remaining underground storage tank (UST) requirements in the 2015 revised UST regulation.  Key takeaways about the compliance deadline are: 

On July 18, 2018, the Department of Ecology (Ecology) repealed existing Chapter 173-360 WAC and adopted new Chapter 173-360A WAC, Underground Storage Tank (UST) Regulations.  The new chapter modifies and replaces the repealed chapter.  The new chapter will be published in the Washington State Register on August 1, 2018, and become effective on October 1, 2018.  Ecology will hold three trainings on the changes to the regulations on August 7-9, 2018.  For more information, read on.

Please be advised that Hawaii’s updated Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 11-280.1 entitled Underground Storage Tanks are now effective. The official effective date is July 15, 2018.

You can view them now on our website through this link  http://health.hawaii.gov/shwb/underground-storage-tanks/.

Any questions please contact:

Thu Perry
Public Participation Coordinator
State of Hawaii
Solid & Hazardous Waste Branch
2827 Waimano Home Road #100
Pearl City, HI  96782
808.586.4226

Calling all Class A/B UST Operators who like a good mystery:

We’ve added a few extended versions of UST overfills caught on video cameras at gas stations.

Watch each and see if you can determine what went wrong. Would operator training helped prevent these?

This just in from EPA: It should help Class A/B UST operators get ready for the new testing deadlines.

Dear UST Colleagues:

As many of you know, we developed questions and answers (Qs & As) to clarify implementation issues regarding the 2015 underground storage tank (UST) regulation, and we posted the Qs & As on the EPA UST website in a Technical Compendium.