§ 8-7-902. Definitions

As used in this subchapter:

1. (1)

   1. (A) “Aboveground storage tank” means any one (1) or a combination of containers, vessels, and enclosures located aboveground, including structures and appurtenances connected to them, the capacity of which is greater than one thousand three hundred twenty gallons (1,320 gals.) and not more than forty thousand gallons (40,000 gals.) and that is used to contain or dispense motor fuels, distillate special fuels, or other refined petroleum products.

   2. (B) “Aboveground storage tank” does not include mobile storage tanks used to transport petroleum from one (1) location to another or those used in the production of petroleum or natural gas;

2. (2) “Accidental release” means any sudden or nonsudden confirmed release of petroleum from a storage tank that results in a need for corrective action or a claim for compensatory damages, or both, neither expected nor intended by the storage tank owner or operator;

3. (3) “Advisory committee” or “committee” means the Advisory Committee on Petroleum Storage Tanks as established in this subchapter;

4. (4) “Commission” means the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission;

5. (5)

   1. (A) “Compensatory damages” means all damages for which an owner or operator may be liable, including, without limitation, bodily injury or property damage.

   2. (B) “Compensatory damages” does not include:

      1. (i) Punitive damages; or

      2. (ii) The costs of litigation, which shall not be limited to attorney’s or expert witness fees.

   3. (C) This definition shall apply to any pending third-party claim which has not been reduced to judgment as of April 7, 2003;

6. (6) “Corrective action” means those actions which may be necessary to protect human health and the environment as a result of an accidental release, sudden or nonsudden;

7. (7) [Repealed.]

8. (8) [Repealed.]

9. (9) “Distributor” means and includes any person, including the State of Arkansas and any political subdivision thereof, but not including the United States or any of its instrumentalities, except to the extent permitted by the United States Constitution or laws thereof, who is customarily in the wholesale business of offering motor fuels for resale or delivery to dealers, consumers, or others in storage tanks of two hundred gallons (200 gals.) or more which are not connected to motor vehicles and is:

   1. (A) Making the first sale in the State of Arkansas of any motor fuel imported into the state from any other state, territory, or foreign country after it has been received within this state within the meaning of the Motor Fuel Tax Law, § 26-55-201 et seq.;

   2. (B) Consuming or using in the State of Arkansas any motor fuel so imported and who has purchased it before it has been received by any other person in this state, within the meaning of the Motor Fuel Tax Law, § 26-55-201 et seq.; or

   3. (C) Producing, refining, preparing, distilling, manufacturing, blending, or compounding motor fuel in this state;

10. (10) “Fund” means the Petroleum Storage Tank Trust Fund created by this subchapter;

11. (11) “Occurrence” means an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to conditions, which results in a release from a storage tank;

12. (12) “Owner or operator”, when the owner and operator are separate parties, means the person who is required to obtain financial assurances under the state underground storage tank program or federal underground storage tank program;

13. (13) “Person” means any individual, corporation, company, firm, partnership, association, trust, joint-stock company or trust, or venture, or municipal, state, or federal government or agency, or any other legal entity, however organized;

14. (14) “Petroleum” means petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction thereof, which is liquid at standard conditions of temperature and pressure of sixty degrees Fahrenheit (60° F) and fourteen and seven-tenths pounds per square inch (14.7 psi) absolute;

15. (15)

    1. (A) “Release” means any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching, or disposing from a storage tank into groundwater, surface water, or subsurface soils.

    2. (B) “Release” does not include a release that is permitted or authorized by the Division of Environmental Quality or by federal law;

16. (16) “Storage tank” means an aboveground storage tank or underground storage tank as defined in this subchapter;

17. (17)

    1. (A) “Supplier” means any person who is customarily in the wholesale business of offering distillate special fuels or liquefied gas special fuels for resale or use to any person in this state and who makes bulk sales of fuel.

    2. (B) “Supplier” includes pipeline importers, first receivers, and second receivers;

18. (18) “Terminal” means a bulk storage facility for storing petroleum products supplied by pipeline or marine vessels;

19. (19)

    1. (A) “Underground storage tank” means any one (1) or a combination of tanks, including underground pipes connected thereto, that is or has been used to contain petroleum, and the volume of which, including the volume of the underground pipes connected thereto, is ten percent (10%) or more beneath the surface of the ground.

    2. (B) “Underground storage tank” does not include any:

       1. (i) Farm or residential tank of one thousand one hundred gallons (1,100 gals.) or less capacity used for storing motor fuel for noncommercial purposes;

       2. (ii) Tank used for storing heating oil for consumptive use on the premises where stored;

       3. (iii) Septic tank;

       4. (iv) Intrastate and interstate pipeline facilities regulated by the Arkansas Public Service Commission or other applicable state or federal agency and all other pipeline facilities, including gathering lines regulated under:

          1. (a) The Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968, 49 U.S.C. § 60101 et seq.; or

          2. (b) The Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979;

       5. (v) Surface impoundment, pit, pond, or lagoon;

       6. (vi) Storm water or wastewater collection system;

       7. (vii) Flow-through process tank;

       8. (viii) Liquid trap or associated gather lines directly related to oil or gas production and gathering operations;

       9. (ix) Storage tank situated in an underground area, such as a basement, cellar, mineworking, drift, shaft, or tunnel, if the storage tank is situated upon or above the surface of the floor; or

       10. (x) Any pipes connected to any tank which is described in this subdivision (19)(B); and

20. (20)

    1. (A) “Unknown petroleum storage tank” means a petroleum storage tank as defined by this subchapter whose existence on a property or facility at the time of the discovery of a release was not known or should not have reasonably been known by the owner or operator.

    2. (B) An owner or operator is deemed to have known of the existence of an unknown petroleum storage tank if there was surficial evidence of such a petroleum storage tank in the form of visible vent pipes, fill caps, or lines protruding from the petroleum storage tank.