06-096 C.M.R. ch. 600, § 12 - Non-Operating Tanks and Facilities

A. Facility Lockout. When a facility is not in use or under competent supervision for a period of 7 consecutive days or longer, the gates and other access ways must be closed and locked, and the loading valves, filling and gauging pipes must be locked. All tanks, piping, equipment and other devices must be capped or blanked in a manner to prevent their use. Valves that isolate tanks, piping and equipment or that could permit a discharge must be locked in the closed position. Any dedicated electrical or hydraulic control devices serving the tank, piping or other equipment must be locked in the closed position. The owner or operator shall notify the Department at least 10 days prior to a facility lockout.

B. Temporarily Out of Service. Facility owners or operators shall notify the Department of storage tanks or facilities that are planned to be or have been temporarily out of service for 12 or more months. The storage tanks or facility must be temporarily closed as follows:

(1) All oil must be removed from the tank and piping system to the lowest drawoff point. Any waste oil generated from the tank or piping must be disposed of in accordance with all applicable state and federal requirements;

(2) Tanks must be protected from flotation in accordance with good engineering practices if in an area within four feet above the 100-year floodplain;

(3) All openings must be secured and locked. Fill pipes, downloading pipes and any other pipes and openings must be capped or secured to prevent access, or accidental or unauthorized use or tampering;

(4) Storage tanks or facilities that are temporarily out of service are subject to all requirements of this Chapter including, but not limited to, periodic testing, inspection, licensing and reporting requirements;

(5) Tanks or piping that are temporarily out of service for more than 2 years must be cleaned, and certified to be gas free by a marine chemist or a certified industrial hygienist. Oil and oil residue must be removed from the tank and all connecting pipes. Connecting pipes must be disconnected or blanked to ensure product is not able to be inadvertently transferred into the closed tanks or piping:

(6) A tank that has been temporarily out of service may not be reactivated for petroleum storage unless a suitability for service inspection is performed that finds the tank suitable for its intended service in accordance with API 653. Suitability for service inspections may only be conducted by a qualified engineer with expertise in the construction and design of field constructed aboveground storage tanks and who is a State of Maine licensed professional engineer or an engineer otherwise working in compliance with Maine's professional regulation statutes. A report detailing the results of the inspection must be provided to the Department that is signed and sealed by the professional engineer conducting the inspection.

C. Tanks Out of Service. A tank or piping is out of service when it has been temporarily out of service for more than 10 years. Any tank or facility that is out of service must comply with the following:

(1) Provisions must be made for natural breathing of the tank to ensure that the tank remains vapor-free;

(2) All connecting piping must be disconnected and securely capped or plugged. All tank openings must be secured and locked;

(3) Tanks must be marked with the date of when the tank was taken out of service;

(4) Aboveground tanks must be protected from flotation in accordance with good engineering practice; and

(5) A tank that has been out of service may not be reactivated for petroleum storage unless a suitability for service inspection is performed that finds the tank suitable for its intended service in accordance with API 653, and a report detailing the results of the inspection is provided to the Department that is signed and sealed by the professional engineer conducting the inspection. Suitability for service inspections may only be conducted by a qualified engineer with expertise in the construction and design of field constructed aboveground storage tanks and who is a State of Maine licensed professional engineer or an engineer otherwise working in compliance with Maine's professional regulation statutes.

D. Facility Closure. At total facility closure, when a licensee chooses to relinquish the facility license, or if the facility is in disrepair and out of service for more than 5 years, the owner or operator shall comply with the requirements of this Section.

Note: Examples of facilities in disrepair include, but are not limited to, those with rusted tanks and piping, holes in structures, trees growing in containment structures and within tanks, and lack of access control.

(1) The owner or operator shall prepare a written facility closure plan that meets standards for safe closure and site remediation within 60 days of the decision to close the oil terminal facility, relinquish the license or to not restore the facility into working order. The closure plan must be submitted to the Department for review and approval. The plan must include an implementation schedule that includes a realistic schedule for investigation, dismantling, and remediation of the site. Concurrent with filing the closure plan with the Department, the owner or operator shall file a copy of the closure plan with the local municipality or with the Office of County Commissioners and the Maine Land Use Planning Commission if the facility is located in an unorganized area. The plan must provide:

(a) A workplan for an investigation relying upon geoprobing, soil test pits, or other similar intrusive methods to assess the presence and areal extent of contaminated soils, sediments, and the presence of ground water and surface water contamination, if any. The investigation must include provisions to estimate the volume of contaminated soils and ground water contaminated such that the facility site, as determined by the Department, is suitable for residential use or meets the most practicable use standards for the facility site and identify areas with current or potential future surface water or ground water impacts. The plan must include a sampling plan. The sampling plan must include parameters that take into account the historic use of the facility for petroleum products and related activities. In addition to petroleum and additive constituents, the sampling plan must include laboratory analysis for total lead, lead scavengers and where applicable toxic characteristic leaching potential for lead in soils around bulk storage tanks and areas where gasoline products were stored and distributed or where other lead residuals are likely to be present. The Department may require this sampling plan to be completed prior to implementing any or all other closure steps. Pending results of the sampling plan, the Department may require further delineation as part of this early investigation.

(b) For removal of all oil and oil residuals from tanks, discharge control equipment, discharge confinement structures, containment systems, and related appurtenances;

(c) For decontamination or removal of all remaining containers, liners, bases, and soil containing or contaminated with oil or oil residuals such that the facility site, as determined by the Department, is suitable for residential use or meets the most protective use standards practicable for the facility site. Any request to remediate the site or portions of the site to a less protective use than residential or other more protective uses than residential for certain contaminants, must include a demonstration with the closure plan that identifies the residential use levels and other more protective uses that are exceeded at the property, why it is not practicable for the facility to achieve this level of protection, the location and extent of contamination proposed to be left, and how the contamination will be protected from storm events and other conditions that could move contamination to other media, areas and to other properties. The plan must also ensure that contamination will not leach or discharge contaminants to surface waters, to ground waters, or to ground waters that will discharge to surface waters;

Note: The residential use standard is not always the most protective use for certain contaminants. See Table 5 and Table 7 of the Maine Remedial Action Guidelines (2021) and the Maine Hazardous Waste Management Rules, Identification of Hazardous Wastes, 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 850, § 3(B) and (C) for additional assistance in evaluating contaminant levels. For assistance contact the Petroleum Licensing and Corrective Action Unit at (207) 287-7688.

Note: Current use, current zoning, or restrictive covenants proposed for the property may be part of the demonstration but are not in and of themselves sufficient justification for leaving contamination on the site.

(d) For decontamination and removal of aboveground and underground tanks and piping and related appurtenances, except for the removal of underground piping where an abandonment plan in accordance with Section (12)(D)(2) below is proposed;

(e) A comprehensive piping survey that shows the location of all former, current and abandoned pipes;

(f) A schedule for completion of closure tasks; and

(g) Publication of a notice of the availability of the closure plan for public comment in a newspaper circulated in the area of the facility. Notice to the public must be given in accordance with Rules Concerning the Processing of Applications and Other Administrative Matters, 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 2, §14. A copy of the public notice must be provided to all abutters and to the local municipality. If the project is in an unorganized or deorganized area, a copy must be provided to the appropriate county commissioners.

(2) In lieu of removal of underground piping, the owner or operator may propose an abandonment plan for review and approval of the Commissioner. The plan must at a minimum include:

(a) A feasibility analysis for removal of underground piping. This analysis must include the rationale for non removal of piping sections including for such reasons as the piping is located beneath permanent structures, is inaccessible to heavy equipment, or is located in such a manner or is of such a great size that it is impractical to remove; and

(b) For piping that is not feasible to remove:

(i) A method for the removal of all product sludges and liquids from the piping;

(ii) A method of filling the piping with solid inert material such that the pipes will not serve as an avenue for discharges of products stored at the facility in the future and not be disturbed during storm events; and

(iii) A method for inerting and capping or plugging abandoned piping to ensure the piping does not pose a health or explosion risk to future users of the property.

(3) Complete the facility closure plan to the satisfaction of the Department including the remediating of soils, sediments, ground water and surface water to the most protective use level, such that the facility site, as determined by the Department, is suitable for residential or meets the most protective use standards practicable for the facility site. The Commissioner may require additional soil, ground water and other testing as a part of the facility closure plan or closure implementation including additional investigation to delineate the nature and extent of any contamination. A facility may not be put into non-oil or bulk terminal service without compliance with this requirement. The owner may not carry out any facility closure activities until the Commissioner has approved the facility closure plan. The Department approval must include a schedule for the completion of the closure activities.

(4) File a written facility closure report with the Department within 60 days of completion of closure activities or in accordance with an alternative timeframe as approved by the Department. The report must include a certification from an independent Maine licensed professional engineer or an engineer otherwise working in compliance with Maine's professional regulation statutes that the facility closure was conducted in accordance with the approved facility closure plan and any approved supplements to the closure plan, and that all regulated substances have been removed or cleaned up in accordance with applicable state laws and rules including 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 600 and 38 M.R.S. §§542, 546, and 552-B. The report must be signed and sealed by the professional engineer making the certification.

NOTE: Pursuant to 38 M.R.S. §552-B(2)(E), the Department will post the facility closure plan as finally amended, Department approval, inspection and testing results and completion report, including the independent Maine licensed professional engineer's certification on the Department's public website for 5 years following the completion of the facility closure.

(5) Within 60 days of the Commissioner's acceptance of the facility closure report, or within an alternative timeframe approved by the Department, the owner or operator shall file an underground piping survey that meets the requirements of Section (12)(D)(1)(e) above with the Registry of Deeds for the county in which the facility operates.

(6) If a facility is used as a bulk terminal, it must be operated for a minimum of ten years as a bulk terminal before the facility closure requirements for cleaning and removal of tanks and piping for oil terminal facilities no longer apply. All other requirements of this Section apply at the time of closure of the oil terminal facility including the requirement to remediate sediment, soils, ground waters, and surface waters such that the facility site, as determined by the Department, is suitable for residential use or meets most protective use standard practicable for the facility site.

E. Owner Responsibility. When ownership of a facility, or a tank, or piping is unknown, the current property operator is responsible for proper closure of the facility.

Notes

06-096 C.M.R. ch. 600, § 12