PEI RP 900 Open for Public Comment Through April 19

Hello UST Community:

The Petroleum Equipment Institute’s Recommended Practice RP900: UST Inspection and Maintenance (2017 Edition) is now open for public comments through April 19, 2021. This document is used by many states as the standard for the 30-day walkthrough inspection and we here at UST Training have been promoting this document in our Class A/B training courses since 2008. Ben Thomas of UST Training is on the RP 900 Committee and would love your feedback to make a great document even better.

The public comment period will end at the close of business on Monday, April 19th, 2021. If you have any suggestions to revise the document you must submit a comment during the official comment period via the on-line portal.  To submit a comment, you will need to go to the RP-900 web page and click on the Comment Now button.

Please inform your colleagues and industry friends that the review of RP-900 is now open.

If anyone has questions or needs further clarification please reach out to Scott Boorse of PEI at 918-236-3975 or 610-513-6542 or [email protected]

Big news! UST Training is now offering Class A/B UST operator training by live webinar for qualifying Arizona UST owners and operators for free.

The next one is March 10, 2020, 8 AM – 12 PM AZ Time.

Register here

All you need is

• Internet and computer speakers or headphones. A computer mic is optional for chatting with the instructor.
• You also need to own or operate a UST regulated by the ADEQ, and be an employee of the company and not a third party contractor.

More information here

Any questions about this option, please contact us anytime at 866-301-8265 or [email protected]

This resource web page is for those MT UST licensees who attended the Virtual Annual Licensee Training on Feb. 17, 2021. Feel free to use these resource links following the webinar:

Ben Thomas of UST Training and his long time friend and associate Marcel Moreau recently published this article in LUSTLine about the effectiveness of UST operator training after 10 years of national efforts. It’s a follow-up to the first article written over a decade ago when we were all wondering if UST operator training would be a game-changer for UST compliance. Check it out!

LUSTLine-88_Web-version (PDF)

We’re back and ready to talk tanks in 2021!

Drop in for this weekly 60-minute live video chat on Zoom with UST Training’s Ben Thomas and hear about what’s going on with USTs in light of the Coronavirus. It’s free! Watch and chat from any computer, laptop, tablet, or smart phone with a camera and mic. No experience required.

Most Fridays, 10 AM Pacific Time

Register now!

We want you to:

• Get comfy with video conferencing,
• Feel connected by chatting with your peers,
• Ask questions about UST management affected by COVID-19,
• Share your concerns and successes about balancing UST Compliance and the Coronavirus.

Register now!

Another first in the world of UST Training: We are excited to announce we have launched the nation’s first Class A/B UST Operator Training course narrated in Hindi for our Hindi-speaking Texas UST Operators.

We recognize the landscape of convenience store operators has changed over the past decade and many of our customers come from diverse backgrounds and speak a growing number of languages. So it makes sense to offer our nationally recognized course in a language that is common to the सुविधा की दुकान (convenience store) world.

Check it out!

We’ve teamed up with Javed Surani, President of Your Environmental Specialist in Beaumont Texas, who helped translate the course into Hindi. Javed’s father, Jalaluddin, who is a convenience store operator, provided the voice talent.

Feedback from our first users of our Hindi-narrated Class C course:

Want more information?Contact us at 866-301-8265 or [email protected].

UST Training is pleased to announce our grant program has been renewed in by the Iowa UST Fund so we can continue to provide free Class A/B UST operator in 2021 to all qualifying UST operators in Iowa.

How it works

If you own or operate a UST system in Iowa and have never been a certified Class A/B operator before:

1. Go to https://usttraining.com/course/iowa-class-ab-ust-operator-training/
2. Create an account, add course to your account
3. Start training

It’s that easy.

Feedback in 2020

If you’re stuck at home due to COVID and need to catch upon things you normally don’t have time for, or if you have a team working remotely and need them to brush up on UST compliance, consider a bulk purchase of our Class A/B UST operator training courses.

Here at UST Training, we want you to use this time to get ahead. We’re always looking for new ways to stay safe during COVID and stay tank savvy. We hope this offer provides both. Click to learn more about team discounts.

Good for the following:

It’s been only two months and our free online Class A/B and C UST operator training in the Grand Canyon State is off to a grand start.

UST Training, though a contract with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), has begun providing free training to qualifying AZ UST operators.

Since October 7, 2020, we’ve signed up over 145 Class A/B operators and over 220 Class C operators. Our goal is to have trained Class A/B and C operators at every single one of the 2,000+ Arizona sites by the end of 2021.

We like to think of ourselves as “big picture” people in the world of UST compliance through savvy education. Because we offer training coast to coast (literally, and beyond –from Guam to the US Virgin Islands) we like to look at national UST trends.

As a Class A/B UST Operator, you might want to know where you stand when compared to the rest of the nation.

Here’s a summary from EPA’s Office of Underground Storage Tanks Performance Measurements dated 9/30/2020 and covers the previous year. For the full report today and previous times, click here.

Shear valve? Automatic Tank Gauge? Ball Float Valve?

Are you a Class A/B or C UST operator who’s come across words you don’t understand?

If you need help defining a piece of UST system related equipment, the PEI Wiki can help. It’s free and easy to use

The PEI Wiki:

Enjoy, learn and share.

Every day we help folks like you be the best UST operators they can be. We recently received this question from UST operator Lorri Bye on our website live chat, read below. We’re happy to help anyone who needs a quick UST answer!

LiveChat conversation transcript:
———-
Name: Lorri Bye
State: Minnesota
———-
Ben Thomas (Fri, 11/20/2020, 08:24:08 am America/Los_Angeles)
Hello, do you have any questions about UST Training?

Lorri Bye (Fri, 11/20/2020, 08:24:50 am)
We have a TLS-350 and I”m wondering if we can run tank gauge reports from a previous date or if it only gives us the current information?

Ben Thomas (Fri, 11/20/2020, 08:25:49 am)
Hi Lorri.

Lorri Bye (Fri, 11/20/2020, 08:26:10 am)
Hello

Ben Thomas (Fri, 11/20/2020, 08:27:36 am)
Hit <mode> until you get to diagnostics ….there’s a whole bunch of test history results there.

Ben Thomas (Fri, 11/20/2020, 08:28:17 am)
This would include alarm history, leak test history etc.

Lorri Bye (Fri, 11/20/2020, 08:28:30 am)
Ok great! thanks

Ben Thomas (Fri, 11/20/2020, 08:28:47 am)
Just make sure to hit mode and get your screen back to all functions normal. At the end

Lorri Bye (Fri, 11/20/2020, 08:29:11 am)
Will do, thanks.

Need help with your UST system? Contact us anytime.

Chat: www.USTtraining.com
Email: [email protected]
Call: 866-301-8265

UST Training staff attended the first every PEI Virtual Convention and Expo last week. And while nothing beats face-to-face interactions with old friends and new prospects, the show was actually pretty cool. UST Training was excited to make the jump to virtual conventions and we expect to see more over the next year.

Imagine going to a web page that’s a giant digital lobby. You look up and see a navigational banner at the top of the page. You can select “Sessions” to join a live class. Or you can select “Expo Hall” and browse through 60 different virtual vendor booths and live chat with a petroleum expert. Or if you just want to socialize you can stop into one of two “Lounges”, including one for PEI members and even one for Spanish-speaking members.

And yes, it sounds a bit strange and non-personal but in fact there were a number of ways to interact with conference attendees, including one-on-one chat, group, chat, email and of course Zoom.

And UST Training’s Ben Thomas was proud to have participated as a speaker, exhibitor, attendee and Board member.

Here are the convention highlights, courtesy of PEI’s Tulsa Letter)

UST Training is all about partnerships and working relationships in our quest to prevent leaks, spills and fines through motivational training for UST operators. Want to join our team?

Over the years we’ve created alliances with various state UST agencies. For instance, Montana’s Tank Helper, Kentucky’s TOOLS and Maine’s Tank Smart were all done with creative input from our staff. Also, we currently provide training statewide in Arizona for no cost to operators; for reimbursement in Iowa; and have offered subsidized training in the past for West Virginia and Wisconsin through various state grant programs.

Another way we help operators is through state and regional petroleum marketer associations. We have reseller agreements with PMAs in Oregon, Colorado/Wyoming, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and New England. These groups promote our training while either enjoying profit sharing or member discounts. We are also starting a reseller partnership with some select buyers groups in Texas as well.

Here’s a detailed list of our partners.

Benefits include:

Attention Class A/B and C UST operators. Important safety tip for cleaning nozzles in the time of COVID-19.

UST Training attended the session “Safety in the World of COVID-19” at the PEI Virtual Conference last week and learned and important thing to share to all UST owners and operators: don’t use bleach to clean your dispenser hanging hardware. It turns out it actively corroded aluminum. The presenter Steve Baynham of Husky showed in real time a video of bleach dissolving the aluminum and we could literally see small slivers of metal blistering away.

Here’s a summary of the presentation

We’ve updated our very popular Hawai’i Class A/B UST Operator Training course, which includes

• Better images
• Easier to read
• More suggestions to how avoid leaks and violations
• Newest UST regulations
• Latest inspection forms

Check it out!

Want to attend national UST convention, interact with industry experts, never learn your home or office and spend only $125 to attend?

With over 60 booths and over 600 attendees, be part of highly adaptive and interactive 2020 convention experience.

When you register and attend next week, make sure to stop by our booth.

Register now

Ben Thomas created a special training video for UST operators and inspectors of Indian Country USTs. It’s informative, filmed on location at the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in Washington, and free to watch. Check it out and pass it along. And special thanks to Dustin Weatherby for being such an awesome UST operator!

Need Indian Country Class A/B or C UST Operator Training that is 100% online? Learn more.