Attention Tribes: New Class A/B UST Operator Training Now Online

Attention Tribal UST operators and inspectors in Indian Country: UST Training is proud to announce the first-ever Class A/B UST Operator Training course designed exclusively for UST operators in Indian Country. This course meets and exceeds the content requirements of US EPA rules and will help Tribal UST operators meet the October 13, 2018 training deadline.

 This just in from the nation’s top UST regulator: (Spoiler alert: Lots of internal corrosion found)

Dear UST Industry Association Colleagues:

I am writing to notify you that EPA’s report, Investigation Of Corrosion-Influencing Factors In Underground Storage Tanks With Diesel Service, (EPA 510-R-16-001, July 2016) is now available.  In addition to the report, EPA also developed a notice about corrosion risks in underground storage tanks (USTs) storing diesel fuel.  I am requesting that you share our notice with your association’s UST owner and operator members and any other stakeholders you think could benefit from this information.  Both the report and notice are available on EPA’s website at https://www.epa.gov/ust/alternative-fuels-and-underground-storage-tanks-usts#tab-5.

With New York recently joining the states who now have UST operator training rules, the question comes up again about approval of Class C UST operator training. Do states require Class C operator training approval?

Ben Thomas of UST Training recently returned from Guam where he taught what is believed to the first agency-approved Class A/B UST Operator Training course that was exclusively designed for operators of airport hydrant systems (AHS) and field constructed tanks (FCT). These unique UST systems were recently added to the federal UST universe (new Subpart K of 40 CFR 280) but Guam started regulating them back in 2013. So while many states are working to identify these tanks for regulatory inclusion, Guam EPA had a pretty good handle on its inventory.

This week UST Training’s Ben Thomas heads to the Western Pacific to provide live Class A/B UST Operator Training on two US island territories. Ben first heads to the island of Guam where he’ll train about 125 UST operators over three days of classroom instruction. The Guam EPA adopted all the new Federal UST rules before they became effective nationwide, so Guam’s rules contain all the new rules most states are currently working on adopting (30-day walk throughs, sump testing etc.)

The Steel Tank Institute has developed an informational brochure for UST owners, encouraging them to monitor and remove water from their tanks. The brochure has easy-to-understand text, a clear illustration of where water enters underground tanks, and a list of further resources. For years UST Training has been encouraging our Class A/B UST operator customers to watch for, measure and properly removed and dispose of water.

Note the illustration does not indicate sumps can leak into the tank: do you agree?

DEQ will be proposing rule amendments to the Environmental Quality Commission.

Oregon operates an underground storage tank regulation program under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s approval. EPA revised their rules effective in 2015 and Oregon must align its rules with the EPA revisions. The current rulemaking will bring Oregon’s rules into compliance with the federal rules and will raise the annual UST permit fee. DEQ is convening an advisory committee to inform this rulemaking.

We recently learned that another state, Missouri, has borrowed our idea of providing site-specific worksheets to be filled our after a class C UST operator completes an online course. Other state agencies from Alaska, Ohio, Wisconsin, Arkansas, (and maybe others) have used our idea as a template for their own standards.

I was updating my resume today when I realized nearly 30 years have gone by since I first entered the world of UST systems. From climbing into my first tank pit in Vermont with a PID gas sniffer in 1986 until today sitting in my office planning my next training trip and getting snowed with calls and emails from around the country, I can easily say I never imagined I’d still be doing USTs. What’s so interesting about this industry? Why be a UST guy for nearly three decades? Here are some off-the-cuff thoughts.

Online learning is steadily becoming an accepted way to meet compliance requirements AND to help operators do a better job keeping us all safe from leaking UST systems. We’ve been gathering feedback since we first started doing online training in 2007 and we continue to work at being the best in the UST Training industry.

Here’s some unedited feedback from Class A/B UST Operators from around the country. If you’re on the fence about the value of online learning versus the traditional classroom setting, consider the following comments.

Hey UST operators. The US EPA has updated another one of its legacy publications Straight Talk on Tanks. Check it out.

Release Detection Methods For Underground Storage Tanks And Piping:  Straight Talk On Tanks is an update to our 2005 publication. This booklet provides easy-to-understand descriptions of several release detection methods for tanks and piping, as well as explanations of the revised regulatory requirements for release detection.

Thanks to EPA’s Office of Underground Storage Tanks for continuing to provide great handouts to support UST operators nationwide.

The Petroleum Storage Tank Committee will be holding a meeting on Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at the old PERA Building, 1120 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM at 10:00 a.m. The meeting will be in Apodaca Hall, on the second floor of the PERA building, and is open to the public. Please see the webpage for further information and agenda.

UST Training is pleased to be returning to the island of Guam to provide refresher and first-time Class A/B UST operator training.

Ben Thomas of UST Training has been awarded the contract from the Guam EPA to provide the training, which is being offered June 15, 16 and 17 at the Guam Hilton in Tamuning.

Our goal is to train every Class A/B UST operator in these three days.

Go here to register and learn more.

The Missouri DNR is preparing operators for the upcoming changes in state rules to accommodate last year’s Federal UST changes. Show Me state operators updates here.

And don’t forget to complete your Class A/B UST operator training by July 1, 2016. Learn more here.

And if you need high quality online Class C UST operator training, we have an excellent online option.

Ben Thomas of UST Training has spent the last year traveling around  the US providing UST operator training at systems previously deferred by State and Federal UST rules. These included airport hydrant systems and field constructed USTs which are now–or may be–subject to Federal regulation under 40 CFR 280 Subpart K).

Want to keep updated on the new EPA UST rules? Join Ben Thomas for a free webinar to learn how these changes might affect you.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016, 11 AM Pacific Time. One hour including Q&A.

Register now!

UST Training’s home state of Washington is getting ready to draft amendments to their UST rules to accommodate last year’s EPA rule changes. To sign up for DOE notices and learn more click here.

Over the years I’ve had the good fortune to know and work closely with Mr. Marcel Moreau, the nation’s top authority on UST systems. Marcel is the quiet intelligence behind many facets of the UST industry, including many PEI’s recommended practices, decades of excellent LUSTLine articles, hundreds of training classes, dozens of conference presentations and some pivotal UST legal cases.

Check out his new improved web page at www.MarcelMoreau.com.

The largest USTs in the US and perhaps the world are being evaluated for upgrade alternatives.  Ben Thomas of UST Training had the good fortune of visiting this one-of-a-kind UST system in Honolulu, Hawaii 2015 and got to see firsthand this engineering marvel. Since then Ben has been leading the nation in operator training for previously deferred tanks such as those at Red Hill and other field constructed tanks and airport hydrant systems that will be subject to UST regulations in the next few years. Stay tuned for more information on the wedding of previously deferred USTs and operator training.

See the article 6 Solutions Considered by the Navy for Red Hill Fuel Storage.

Proposed rules governing fuel inspection, underground storage tanks, aboveground storage tanks, tank indemnity funds and corrective action were adopted February 3 by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission en banc. The proposed rules and related documents pertaining to the rulemakings may be downloaded from the Commission’s website. (Courtesy of PEI)

UST Training will do our best to track and share with you all state and territory rules changes as we become aware of them. It’s going to be a very busy next couple of years of rulemaking.