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Impacts of the Underground Storage Tank Upgrading Program On Petroleum Product Supplies in Rural California
DRAFT Publication Number: 300-98-014
Status Report Update: 12/10/98
The purpose, background and statewide assessment from this document are available below. This publication can be downloaded in its entirety are an Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format file. In order to download, navigate and print this PDF file, you will need a copy of the free Acrobat Reader software installed in and configured for your computer. The software can be downloaded from Adobe Systems Incorporated's Web Site.
Printed copies of this document can be obtained through the Energy Commission Publications Unit by calling 916-654-5200.
Download Entire Document in Adobe Acrobat PDF. (17 pages, 85 kilobytes)
Disclaimer
The views and conclusions expressed in this document are those of the staff of the California Energy Commission and do not necessarily represent those of the California Energy Commission or the State of California.
Acknowledgments
Staff wishes to thank Don Johnson, California Department of Toxic Substances Control; Allan Patton and Terry Brazell, California State Water Resources Control Board; Bill Jones, Los Angeles County Fire Department; and Dave Lazier, California Department of Food and Agriculture, Division of Measurement Standards for their assistance in the early stages of this project. Staff especially wishes to acknowledge the contributions by staff at the Certified Unified Program Agencies and other designated county agencies for providing information without which this report would not be possible. The author also wishes to thank Jairam Gopal, Gerry Bemis, Gordon Schremp, Thom Kelly and Rob Schlichting of the California Energy Commission for their support and review of materials as they were developed, and Tino Flores for assistance on cover graphics. Any errors or omissions, however, are the responsibility of the author.
Notice on Report Updates
This status report supersedes the previous report dated October 20, 1998 and is being updated on a continual basis as information is received by the Commission. Updates on progress of the certification process and comments are welcome from interested parties. The current version and any future updates of the report will be posted on the Commission's website at
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Impacts of the Underground Storage Tank Upgrading Program
on Petroleum Product Supplies in Rural CaliforniaStatus Report Update: 12/10/98
Purpose
The purpose of this assessment is to determine how the Underground Storage Tank (UST) Upgrading/Replacement Program will affect the availability of retail transportation fuels in California after the upgrading compliance deadline of December 22, 1998. Commission staff is concerned that, with the closure of some service stations due to the cost of complying with the UST program, certain areas of the state may be left with few refueling options. Isolated rural areas, in particular, may be disproportionately affected. Potential impacts can include the extra time and cost for consumers to travel to more distant retail refueling sites, constraints on refueling options for emergency or other community services, and possible decreases in competition which may raise fuel prices.
Background
The objective of this effort is to develop an updated database of retail service stations in the state (focusing on rural areas), with information on those facilities that are expected to remain in business in 1999 and beyond. A comprehensive data base of refueling facilities in the state that includes basic information such as facility name, address, brand (if any), number and capacity of tanks, and compliance status does not exist. A variety of state and local agency information sources therefore were examined, compiled and analyzed to develop a better understanding of the potential effects of the upgrading deadline on refueling site availability in rural sections of the state. These information sources are discussed in detail in a later section of this update.
Statewide Assessment
The picture for some sections of the state is still uncertain, but overall it is emerging more clearly. Facility licensing and monitoring of the program at the local level is catching up with the case load. Local lead agencies are in contact with most of their facilities and have records or databases of varying, but improving, quality. Only a relatively small number of the business owners remain unsure if and when they can eventually comply. Financing problems, economic concerns (often independent of the UST program), last year's backlog of loan applications before the State Trade and Commerce Agency's Replace Underground Storage Tank (RUST) program, uncertainties about the availability of supplies or contractors to do the work and the persistent rainfall into early summer initially slowed progress in many areas. Fortunately, the RUST program was funded by the 1998-99 state budget sufficiently to accommodate existing loan applications.
Commission staff has focused on areas that were identified - using the Weighmaster list (see "Information Sources" section, below) and detailed county atlases - as being isolated and served by limited refueling facilities. Staff has attempted to ascertain the compliance status of these facilities, and to convey other issues raised by the county lead agency contact persons. Staff intends to remain in communication with these local agencies through the coming months, in order to continue to follow the progress of the program and become aware of important changes or trends after the deadline. Staff has identified some areas of the state that will find retail refueling options significantly more limited than before, but concludes that generally business owners are slowly managing to overcome the financial burden and regulatory procedures of upgrading facilities. In some cases, temporary closures will result, with the final disposition still undetermined. Contractors and supplies will be more readily available after the deadline, so some operations that are seasonal or can afford the layoff may put off work until next year. To accommodate the end-of-the-year inspection rush, local agencies can petition the Water Board for 90 day extensions to certify stations that have completed work.
Some other general statements can be made for the state as a whole. The California Department of Forestry has gone almost entirely to above ground tanks (AGTs), resulting in few closures overall for fire response. The U.S. Forest Service has engaged in a mix of closures, upgrades, and above ground tank options but, according to several county contact persons, will have to rely much more on private retailers. In general, municipal and other emergency services (schools, police, fire departments, municipal services) are almost entirely out of the fuel storage business. They will then be dependent on private retailers, not all of whom sell diesel needed for large buses and trucks. Private utilities, such as phone companies and electric utilities, with sufficient resources have upgraded their facilities in many, but not all, cases. Despite these many changes, only isolated concerns were expressed about the possible vulnerability of fire, emergency or other services to fuel shortages.
In several counties, especially throughout the state's rural north, the shift to AGTs is widespread, even among retailers. An AGT of small to moderate capacity (500-2000 gallons) is typically quicker and cheaper to install than an UST. This is due to the simpler leak detection and containment systems required, although some problems getting approvals for piping at marinas have occurred. AGTs up to 10,000 gallons have been installed in a few locations, but at that scale underground tanks are usually preferred. AGTs are also often under the jurisdiction of local fire or building departments, rather than environmental health departments, where most USTs are permitted. As a final note, in the following sections, when UST facilities are referred to as upgraded, that could mean either that existing tanks have been upgraded or replaced with new tanks.
Information About Each County Listed in the Report
Information Sources
- Weighmaster Enforcement, Petroleum Products Enforcement Branch of the State Department of Food and Agriculture, Division of Measurement Standards has provided a list of facility names that are certified to pump petroleum products for sale. The state list was compiled in 1996 from individual county weighmasters' lists. It is somewhat out-of-date, and does not provide information other than facility name and address, so it cannot predict who will remain in business in 1999. It is a comprehensive and accessible spreadsheet, however, with 11,262 identified refueling facilities requiring certified pump meters, and has been used as the baseline dataset to which additional information, changes, and updates are being made. An updated list will be compiled from Weighmaster Enforcement data and information gathered this spring, but it is not likely to capture all the closures for the end of the year.
- The Department of Toxic Substances Control manages the Unified Program, which places all toxic substances control efforts under one program, in conjunction with the Certified Unified Program Agencies (CUPA) Forum. Commission staff obtained cooperation from the Forum in the form of an introductory letter from the Forum President to go with a letter from our Executive Director requesting information from the individual county CUPAs (or other designated lead agencies) on the status of the UST program in their jurisdictions. This was followed by phone calls by staff to the majority of the county contact persons (typically at local environmental health agencies), focusing on the largely rural counties. General statewide conclusions and county-specific assessments were primarily drawn from these conversations.
- The Fuel Tax Division of the State Board of Equalization compiles a database of information on fuel providers to track volumes of fuel sold and taxes and fees received, such as a UST fee which is levied to fund underground cleanups where leaks have occurred. This database is potentially useful, but is difficult to work with because individual entries are based on company accounts, not specific facilities.
- The State Water Resources Control Board is the state's lead agency for implementing this program. The Board's UST Program obtains aggregated city or county data quarterly from the local lead agency detailing the number of active and permanently closed petroleum and hazardous waste USTs, and the number of active USTs that have approved leak detection systems and/or comply with the 1998 upgrading requirements. It does not, however, obtain site-specific facility information.
More information about the regulations can be found at the State Water Resources Control Board Web site at: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/~cwphome/ust/usthmpg.htm .