Our West Virginia Class A/B Course Re-Approved

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection recently re-approved our Class A/B UST Operator Training course. The original version, 100% online, has been taken by over 1,200 WV UST operators since 2009. Check it out!

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has approved our online Virginia Class A/B UST Operator Training course. Check it out!

UST Training was the nation’s first approved Class A/B UST operator trainer (2003) and we are excited to finally offer VA operators our inspirational and nationally recognized training material.

Aloha Hawai’i Class A/B UST Operators:

Do you want to attend a live version of our Hawai’i Class A/B UST Operator Training course?

If you’re interested, Register Now. Seating is limited.

The UST Training team is saddened to share with the UST world that Steve Purpora, co-founder of UST Training, passed away unexpectedly on February 2, 2019. As noted in the PEI:

Since 2002, Purpora had been the president of Protanic Inc. and Purpora Engineering, the companies founded by his father, William. He was an active PEI member, including service on the Overfill, Release Detection and Release Prevention Equipment Testing Committee and the Vapor Recovery Installation Committee.

Steve was well known in the industry and served on numerous PEI Recommended Practices committees. His efforts in the field of underground storage tanks prevented immeasurable damage to the environment.

We owe a great deal to Steve’s enthusiasm and drive, that helped create the vision that is UST Training today.

Steve is survived by his wife of almost 30 years, Michelle, and their three daughters: Ashley, Samantha and Sydney.

Have lots of UST operators? Need  expertise managing your training efforts? We offer statewide, regional or national UST operator training solutions at no extra cost.

If you operate USTs in more than one state, you probably know by now that UST rules can vary a little or a lot, depending on what state your USTs are in. So it probably comes as no surprise that each state has a fairly strict approval process for us vendors of Class A/B and C UST operator training. Which is good so you know you get good training but it also explains why it’s hard to find a one-size-fits-all course.

This in from Tennessee…where the UST operator training is free, but not necessarily taken.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (“TDEC”) issued a proposed Order and Assessment (“Order”) to Warren County, Tennessee (“Warren County”), for alleged violation of certain provisions of the Tennessee Code addressing underground storage tanks (“USTs”). See Case No. UST 18-0118.

More

2018 – What an amazing year we had:

• Our 15th Anniversary: 2003 highlighted the first ever state-approved Class A/B UST course in the nation in Portland, Oregon.
• Almost 10 years ago: in 2009 we launched the first ever-state approved online Class A/B and C courses for Colorado, then Wisconsin and West Virginia.
• 6 years ago: in 2012 we joined up with our first LMS, to greatly expand the delivery of our online courses.
• Today: We offer 54 state- and Territory-specific Class C UST operator training courses.
• Today: We have 13 state-specific Class A/B UST operator classes. We also link to the remaining states and offer our next best choice for training, even when it’s not us.
• Today: We offer the nation’s only commercially available Class A/B and C UST operator training courses for Indian Country.
• An amazing 30,660 individuals received certificates of completion for Class A/B and C UST operators from our first LMS since 2012.
• Several Thousand individuals received live Class A/B and C certificates issued nationwide in over a dozen states since 2003.
• Over 500,000 Class C certificates have been issued nationwide from our major license clients and resellers.
• 7,800 folks are currently subscribed to our UST Training News Newsletter.
• Almost 38,000 visitors came to our web page since January.
• Over 1,700 folks received UST Resource Bundles over the last five years.
• We’ve logged 300,700 total hits on our Tank Savvy Minute videos on YouTube since 2012.

Thanks to each and everyone of you who helped make this a super successful year!

UST Training announces a formal partnership with the Oregon Fuels Association (OFA), creating some great benefits for OFA members, including:

• 20% discount off all online Oregon Class A/B and Oregon Class C UST operator training,
• Complimentary annual compliance binders, and
• Free technical and regulatory advice.

UST Training has been working informally with OFA for many years and has been training UST operators in Oregon since 2003. This agreement makes official our years of working together to help Oregon UST operators be the best they can be.

Attention Class A/B UST Operators: There’s a number of new testing requirements for your UST system. Need a simple explanation of what needs testing?

Use this easy to read table below that explains what you must do to comply. But remember: not every rule applies to every UST site. It depends on whether you have certain types of equipment (like an ATG) and whether you use that equipment to comply with the rules.

Ben Thomas of UST Training has become friends with a Louisville, Kentucky-based company that’s been around for some time: CSTAT Mobile Data Collection. Learn how they can help you with improving your UST inspection process.

Another milestone in the history of UST Training’s efforts to bring useful information to the UST community. As of today, we’ve logged over 300,000 views of our Tank Savvy Minute videos on YouTube since 2011. To be specific:

• 268,497 minutes of watch time
• 307,507 views
• 748 subscribers

Calling all Class A/B UST Operators nationwide: Our friends at Source North America have done an excellent job summarizing the status of each state’s UST regulations, including whether the state is approved by EPA (important to know if the 2018 deadline applies to you), as well and major rule changes and important links to state-specific rules. Check it out!

Normally we like to format our own version of things like the new EPA UST rules, but Franklin Fueling Systems did an excellent job creating a nifty below ground map that shows each of the rule changes and points to each change as it relates to various locations on a buried UST system. Plus you can see all the parts underground. It’s very helpful and very visual.

Note that the October 13, 2018 deadline only applies to states that are not EPA-approved and states that also happen to have the same October 13, 2018 deadline. Not sure if the deadline applies to you? Give us a shout.

But meanwhile download this cool brochure.

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