A.
New Land
Based Oil Terminal Facilities.
(1)
Facility Set-Backs. Every new aboveground oil storage tank operating at
pressures less than 2.5 pounds per square inch gauge must be located in
accordance with NFPA 30, Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code.
Vertical tanks storing liquids must be separated in
accordance with NFPA 30.
(2) Facility Location. New oil terminal
facilities may not be located within the following areas:
(a) Within 3,000 feet of a surface water body
intake used as a public drinking water supply;
(b) Within 600 feet of an existing private
drinking water supply, except a facility's own well;
(c) Within 1,000 feet of a significant ground
water aquifer; or
(d) Within 1,000
feet of an essential habitat as mapped by the Department of Inland Fisheries
and Wildlife, or any refuge, park, preserve, or similar site when such site is
state or federally designated.
Undeveloped areas and non-oil or non-chemical handling areas
are not included in the definition of "oil terminal facilities" for the
purposes of this paragraph.
(3) A new oil terminal facility located as
set forth below is presumed to pose a serious threat to public health or
welfare or to the environment such that a license for a facility may not be
issued. The presumption applies if a facility is located:
(a) Within a 100-year floodplain, unless
critical infrastructure is suitably elevated to four feet above the 100-year
flood elevation to maintain continuity of operations, except for piers and
piping from a pier to the terminal. Piers and piping from a pier to the
terminal must be secured through an alternative means such as marine break away
couplings;
(b) Within 1,000 feet of
a freshwater wetland, great pond, river, stream or brook (as defined in
Natural Resources Protection Act,
38 M.R.S.
§480-B) not used as a public drinking
water supply, except for piers and piping from a pier to the
terminal;
(c) Within an area that
is less than four feet in elevation above the highest astronomical tide (HAT)
line of coastal wetlands (as defined in
38 M.R.S.
§480-B) with a salt or brackish water
regime (salinity equal to or greater than 0.5 parts per 1,000) that contain
emergent vegetation tolerant of salt water occurring primarily in a salt water
or estuarine habitat including, but not limited to, marshes and salt meadows;
or
(d) Within 1,000 feet of an eel
grass bed.
(4) An
applicant seeking a license to establish, construct, alter, or operate a
facility in a location listed in subparagraphs (3)(a)-(d) above may overcome
the presumption in paragraph (3) above by persuasive evidence that either:
(a) The facility is unique in some way that
allows for compliance with the intent of this Chapter through an alternative
design, operation, or siting proposal which provides a level of protection
equivalent to that which would be provided by the siting provision in this
Chapter; or
(b) The facility
environment is unique in some way such that a valuable resource will not be
negatively affected by the proposed siting.
B.
Existing Land Based Oil Terminal
Facilities.
(1) Modifications to
Existing Facilities. New tanks located inside the existing oil and chemical
handling areas of existing facilities are not subject to the siting criteria of
Section (6)(A) above. New tanks located outside the existing oil and chemical
handling areas are permitted provided they comply with one of the following:
(a) They are located in compliance with the
siting criteria;
(b) They are
unable to meet all the siting criteria, in which case the owner or operator has
demonstrated to the Department that the new tank will be constructed in the
location which satisfies the greatest number of siting criteria; or
(c) The owner or operator is able to
demonstrate to the Department's satisfaction that although contiguous land is
available which meets the siting criteria, compliance with the siting criteria
through use of this location would not be economically feasible or would create
significant operational problems.
For the purposes of Sections (6)(B)(1)(b) and (c) above,
land not contiguous to the existing oil and chemical handling area where the
oil terminal owner or operator intends to build or land not already owned by
the terminal owner or operator would not be included for consideration. A
private or public right of way may not by itself be considered as dividing a
property into separate noncontiguous properties.
(2) Non Operating Facilities. Existing
facilities that have been abandoned, closed or that have been in disrepair for
more than 10 years are prohibited from reuse unless the facility siting
complies with Section (6)(A) of this Chapter.