Something we don’t see on a Veeder Root everyday…

EPA continues to update its publications to accommodate the new 2015 changes to the UST rules, and they’ve just announced the revised version of Operating and Maintaining Underground Storage Tank Systems: Practical Help and Checklists.

Here’s the link to the Word and PDF versions:

• Word: Operating and Maintaining Underground Storage Tank Systems: Practical Help and Checklists (EPA 510-K-16-001). February 2016. (DOCX) (59 pp, 2 MB)
• PDF: Operating and Maintaining Underground Storage Tank Systems: Practical Help and Checklists (EPA 510-K-16-001). February 2016. (PDF) (59 pp, 2 MB)

Ben Thomas of UST Training helped author portions of the 2001 version and is happy to see these important updates. UST operators will benefit from this useful guide.

Enjoy!

UST Training, in cooperation with JD2 Environmental, is proud to offer this Live Preparatory Classroom for New York UST Class A/B facility operators. This course will prepare you to take the NY Class A/B final exam to become a certified Class A/B UST operator. Don’t forget the training deadline is coming up: No later than October 11, 2016, all regulated NY UST facilities must have certified Class A/B (and C) UST Operators.

This course is excellent for any NY UST operator who wants to become certified as a Class A/B UST operator but might need a little help getting ready to take the DEC online exam. JD2 Environmental Inc. can provide private training to those taking the New York Class A/B Operator exam.  Training is provided by JD2 principals who are recognized nationwide as industry experts on storage tank issues.

To learn more about this option and bring a class to your company or region, email or call (610) 430-8151 today.

Need NY Class C Training? Click here

Since 2009, UST Training has been offered complimentary inspection forms to our Class A/B UST operators, using Recommended Practice 900: UST Inspection and Maintenance (2008 Edition) by the Petroleum Equipment Institute. The document includes super helpful checklists used to verify conditions at UST systems on a daily, monthly and annual basis. UST Training has given out thousands of these forms and, as a PEI member, is proud to have provided UST operators nationwide with a simple way to stay organize and stay in compliance.

We’re coming East! Ben Thomas and Oregon Fuels Association will be offering a live Class A/B Oregon UST Operator Training course

March 2, 2016, 8 AM – 3 PM
Oregon DEQ Building. Blue Mountain Conference Room
700 SE Emigrant Ave # 330, Pendleton, OR 97801

Register here

Please help spread the word.

Ben Thomas of UST Training is offering a live Hawaii Class A/B UST Operator training course March 9, 2016. Like our training but prefer a live classroom? Have other folks who need training?

Hawaii Class A/B UST Operator Training
March 9, 2016, 8 AM to 3 PM
University of Hawai’i Maui College, Laulima 225 – Executive Classroom
310 W. Ka’ahumanu Avenue, Kahului, HI 96732
$300.00 per operator. Prepayment is required. Credit Card or check.
Includes training, unlimited personalized technical assistance, binder, exam and certificate of completion. Lunch included.

Register by calling 866-301-8265 or email.

The next Oregon Class A/B UST Operator Training class is set for Thursday March 3, 2016, 8 AM to 4 PM

Oregon has the distinction of being the first state in the US to require UST operator training back in 2003 and instructor Ben Thomas has trained the majority of UST operators in Oregon since then. This course will prepare students to become a certified Class A/B UST operator in Oregon (Washington operators welcome too!). Attend this lively, interactive class to learn about UST rules, best management practices and come away with practical advice about being a top notch UST operator.

Oregon Class A/B UST Operator Training
George Fox University, 12753 SW 68th Avenue
Portland OR 97223-8305

Register now

On January 1, 2016, Nebraska become one of the last few states to pass the UST operator training deadline. So every UST site in Nebraska should have a designated, trained and certified Class A, B and C operator. UST Training is proud to have helped hundreds of UST operators achieve this goal.

2015 was a good year for the clean groundwater and the environment. We trained many thousands of new UST operators in the last 365 days, adding to the growing pool of professionals who manage compliance for USTs nationwide. And near as we can tell, reported leaking USTs were down nationwide. And hopefully, though we cannot confirm, the number of compliance violations have dropped in part due to our training.

So where does that leave operator training in 2016 and beyond? Here’s my observations about what’s working, what’s not, and what we might expect in the near future.

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, January 6, 2016, 11 AM Pacific Time. One hour including Q&A.

Register now!

EPA recently published their FY 2015 progress report showing all the UST work done from October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015 by states, territories and tribes. How did we do as a nation preventing and cleaning up leaking USTs?

During this time we:

The Florida EPA has a great video on preparing for a UST inspection that is now available with Spanish, Creole and Hindi transcripts. Very cool and thanks to Florida for helping reach a bigger audience. Check it out!

Looks like Oklahoma is leading the charge on being one of the first states to propose adopting the new Federal UST rules (Thanks to the PEI Tulsa Letter)

A final newsletter reminder for the Nebraska Class A/B and C operators. The training deadline is 12/31/15. With the holidays between now and them, we strongly urge you get get signed up today. If you have any questions about training or the deadline, please contact us anytime at 866-301-8265 or [email protected]

Or just register today:

One of the better technical assistance publications to come of out EPA’s Office of Underground Storage Tanks  has just been updated to explain the new UST rules. Check it out!

Musts for USTs

This publication incorporates the 2015 UST requirements.

(EPA 510-K-15-001). November 2015.

This 36-page booklet summarizes federal UST requirements for installation, reporting, spill and overfill prevention, corrosion protection, release detection, walkthrough inspections, compatibility, operator training, repairs, financial responsibility, release response, and closure.

• MUSTs for USTs (.docx)(40 pp, 3 MB, November 2015, EPA 510-K-15-001)

• Musts for USTs (PDF)(40 pp, 2 MB, November 2015, EPA 510-K-15-001)

Ben Thomas of UST Training is honored to have been recently selected to join the Petroleum Equipment Institute’s RP 900 Committee. If you’re one of our Class UST A/B operators, you’ll recognize PEI’s RP 900 Recommended Practices for the Inspection and Maintenance of UST Systems as major focus of our Class A/B UST training. We’ve been offering the inspection checklists found in RP 900 and have heavily referenced the standard in all our training starting in 2009. Since then we’ve offered these checklists to literally thousands of operators as a suggested way to stay ahead of the compliance curve.

Now the document is being amended in part to more consistent with the the new EPA rules. The Recommended Practice was first published in 2008 so the practices themselves predate the new Federal rules by a number of years. Starting in 2018 the new Federal rules will be requiring states to adopt monthly walk-through inspections, the backbone of RP 900. Changes to RP 900 will bring regulatory consistency for folks doing (or about to start doing) daily, monthly and annual UST inspections.

Ben Thomas is excited to bring his years of operator training experience to the committee to represent those who will use the standard the most: namely Class A/B and C UST operators. Ben is humbled to sit alongside a group of distinguished national UST experts to make this essential standard even better. Stay tuned for details.

If you have Veeder Root TLS 450 tank monitor, you might find this user guide video very helpful. It was prepared by AAFES (Army & Air Force Exchange Service) the worldwide retailer of fuels for US Army and Air Force installations. It’s excellent if you’re a Class A/B or C operator coming up to speed on how to use the tank monitor. Also, if you’re a UST inspector, you might also find this video very useful in getting ready for a 450 inspection. Note this is only for the 450 and not the 450 Plus. Enjoy and thanks Robert Largent and the gang at AAFES!

We’re seeing an increasing number of UST sites today that are outfitted with emergency spill response kits. But because a spill response kit is not specifically required in Federal and many state UST rules, it’s not something state inspectors are necessarily looking for. Meanwhile, many to most of the larger UST companies have had spill skits on-site, stocked and ready to deploy for many years.

If you don’t yet have a spill kit at your UST site, consider the following useful information provided by our good friends at the Vermont DEC.

Important Coverage Requirement: The State of Nebraska requires that each facility’s Class B operator:

• Visit each facility at least once every week during normal business hours.
• Be immediately available for telephone consultation with the Class C operator when a facility is in operation.
• Be geographically located such that the person can be on site within two hours of being contacted by the the public, the owner or operator of the facility, or the State Fire Marshal.

Aloha Hawaii Class C UST Operators. This is a friendly reminder that the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) requires all Class C UST operators to be retrained annually. Retraining helps keep you sharp in the event an unforeseen incident like a tank overfill, leak alarm, fire or other UST hazard.

We’ve created this post because many Hawaii operators first got trained at the end of 2013 so we expect a number of Class C operators will need to re-certify right about now.

For a list of refresher requirements in other states click here.

Mahalo!