§22-17-1. Short Title
This article may be known and cited as the “Underground Storage Tank Act”.
§22-17-10. Financial Responsibility
The director shall promulgate rules, as provided in section six of this article, containing requirements for maintaining evidence of financial responsibility as deemed necessary and desirable for taking reasonable corrective action and for compensating third parties for bodily injury and property damage caused by sudden and nonsudden accidental releases arising from operating an underground storage […]
§22-17-11. Performance Standards for New Underground Storage Tanks
(a) The director shall promulgate performance standards for new underground storage tanks as provided in section six of this article. The performance standards for new underground storage tanks shall include, but not be limited to, design, construction, installation, release detection and compatibility standards. (b) New underground storage tank construction standards must include at least the […]
§22-17-12. Confidentiality
(a) Any records, reports or information obtained from any persons under this article shall be available to the public, except that upon a showing satisfactory to the director by any person that records, reports or information, or a particular part thereof, to which the director or any officer, employee, or representative thereof has access under […]
§22-17-13. Inspections, Monitoring and Testing
(a) For the purposes of developing or assisting in the development of any rule, conducting any study, taking any corrective action or enforcing the provisions of this article, any owner or operator of an underground storage tank shall, upon request of the director, furnish information relating to such tanks, their associated equipment and contents, conduct […]
§22-17-14. Corrective Action for Underground Petroleum Storage Tanks
(a) Prior to the effective date of rules promulgated pursuant to subdivision (9) or (10), subsection (b), section six of this article, the director is authorized to: (1) Require the owner or operator of an underground storage tank to undertake corrective action with respect to any release of petroleum from said tank when the director […]
§22-17-15. Administrative Orders; Injunctive Relief; Requests for Reconsideration
(a) Whenever on the basis of any information, the director determines that any person is in violation of any requirement of this article, he or she may issue an order stating with reasonable specificity the nature of the violation and requiring compliance within a reasonable specified time period or the director may commence a civil […]
§22-17-16. Civil Penalties
(a) Any violator who fails to comply with an order of the director issued under subsection (a), section fifteen of this article within the time specified in the order is liable for a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 for each day of continued noncompliance. (b) Any owner who knowingly: (1) Fails to register; […]
§22-17-17. Public Participation
Any adversely affected person may intervene in any civil or administrative proceeding under this article when such person claims an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action and such person is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede his […]
§22-17-18. Appeal to Environmental Quality Board
Any person aggrieved or adversely affected by an order of the director made and entered in accordance with the provisions of this article may appeal to the environmental quality board, pursuant to the provisions of article one, chapter twenty-two-b of this code.
§22-17-19. Disclosures Required in Deeds and Leases
(a) The grantor in any deed or other instrument of conveyance or any lessor in any lease or other instrument whereby any real property is let for a period of time shall disclose in such deed, lease or other instrument the fact that such property, or the substrata of such property whether or not the […]
§22-17-2. Declaration of Policy and Purpose
The Legislature recognizes that large quantities of petroleum and hazardous substances are stored in underground storage tanks within the State of West Virginia and that emergency situations involving these substances can and will arise which may present a hazard to human health, safety or the environment. The Legislature also recognizes that some of these substances […]
§22-17-20. Appropriation of Funds; Underground Storage Tank Administrative Fund
(a) The secretary shall collect annual registration fees from owners of underground storage tanks. The registration fee collected under this section may not exceed $65 per tank per year. All such registration fees and the net proceeds of all fines, penalties and forfeitures collected under this article including accrued interest shall be paid into the […]
§22-17-21. Leaking Underground Storage Tank Response Fund
(a) Each underground petroleum storage tank owner within this state shall pay an annual fee, if assessed by the director, to establish a fund to assure adequate response to leaking underground petroleum storage tanks. The fees assessed pursuant to this section shall not exceed $25 per tank per year. The proceeds of such assessment shall […]
§22-17-22. Underground Storage Tank Insurance Fund
(a) The secretary may establish an Underground Storage Tank Insurance Fund for the purpose of satisfying the financial responsibility requirements established pursuant to section ten of this article. In addition to the capitalization fee to be assessed against all owners or operators of underground storage tanks provided by subdivision (6), subsection (b), section six of […]
§22-17-23. Duplicative Enforcement Prohibited
No enforcement proceeding brought pursuant to this article may be duplicated by an enforcement proceeding subsequently commenced under some other article of this code with respect to the same transaction or event unless such subsequent proceeding involves the violation of a permit or permitting requirement of such other article.
§22-17-3. Definitions
(a) “Change in status” means causing an underground storage tank to be no longer in use or a change in the reported uses, contents or ownership of an underground storage tank. (b) “Director” means the director of the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection or such other person to whom the director has delegated authority […]
§22-17-4. Designation of Division of Environmental Protection as the State Underground Storage Tank Program Lead Agency
The Division of Environmental Protection is hereby designated as the state underground storage tank program lead agency for purposes of Subtitle I and is hereby authorized to take all actions necessary or appropriate to secure to this state the benefits of said legislation. In carrying out the purposes of this article, the director is hereby […]
§22-17-5. Powers and Duties of Director; Integration With Other Acts
(a) In addition to all other powers and duties prescribed in this article or otherwise by law, and unless otherwise specifically set forth in this article, the director shall perform any and all acts necessary to carry out the purposes and requirements of Subtitle I. (b) The director shall cooperate with and may receive and […]
§22-17-6. Promulgation of Rules and Standards by Director
(a) The director has overall responsibility for the promulgation of rules under this article. In promulgating and revising such rules the director shall comply with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code. Such rules shall be no more stringent than the rules and regulations promulgated by the United States environmental protection agency pursuant to […]