ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
REVISED
underground storage tanks;
revisions
Establishes
a municipal tank closure program (MTCP) to allow small cities to obtain grants
to close underground storage tanks (USTs) for which there is no legal owner or
operator to perform the closure.
Authorizes the collection of a temporary $.01/gallon excise tax on
regulated substances placed in USTs for three years to pay for the MTCP program
as well as to pay for approved but unpaid claims against the UST assurance
account.
The state UST program was established in 1986 by the Legislature to implement UST regulations adopted by Congress in 1984 as part of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The UST program is designed to prevent, detect and clean up releases of petroleum and other hazardous (regulated) substances into the groundwater, surface and subsurface soils. The state program also provides financial coverage to UST owners and operators for upgrading and closing tanks, and the clean up of site contamination. The UST program is self-funded, with primary revenues coming from a one cent per gallon excise tax on regulated substances (primarily petroleum), a $100 tank registration fee and two federal grants. The excise tax generates approximately $24 million a year.
The UST assurance account is intended to provide partial coverage of corrective action costs incurred by a UST owner or operator and to pay for corrective action costs incurred by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). In the 1999 special performance audit of the UST program by the Office of the Auditor General, the total unpaid claims against the assurance account stood at $55 million at the end of FY 1999. Additionally, the account had $22 million in pending claims at that time.
S.B. 1319 creates a municipal tank closure program to assist small communities that have problems with high concentrations of USTs for which there is no legal owner or operator to be responsible for the closure of those tanks. S.B. 1319 imposes an additional $.01 per gallon excise tax on regulated substances placed in USTs for a three-year period for the purpose of paying the unpaid claims against the assurance account and for funding the municipal tank closure program.
1. Establishes a municipal tank closure program (MTCP) to allow cities with a population of less than 15,000 people and at least 15 USTs located on property owned or controlled by a person who is not the owner or operator of the tank to apply for and receive financial assistance to close the tanks.
2. Requires municipalities to submit an application to ADEQ that includes specified information such as a comprehensive cost estimate for the project, a map identifying the location of the tanks, a comprehensive plan and schedule for the closure of the tanks and evidence that the property owner(s) have consented to the closure of the tank.
3. Requires ADEQ to consider applications in the order they are received and make awards of no more than $500,000 to each municipality that qualifies. ADEQ is required to issue a decision on an application within 90 days of receiving it. Assistance shall be awarded from the newly established MTCP account.
4. Limits ADEQ to using no more than 10 percent of the monies in the MTCP account for administrative costs.
5. Allows eligible applicants to be reimbursed from the MTCP account, up to $30,000, for the costs of preparing the grant application.
6. Requires a participant in the MTCP to provide a report with specified information to ADEQ upon completion of the project. Once ADEQ confirms that closure requirements were met, ADEQ shall issue a letter to that effect to the affected parties.
7. Imposes a temporary, three-year, $.01 per gallon excise tax on regulated substances placed in USTs. Revenues from this tax are allocated as follows:
·
20
percent to the MTCP account for the purpose of paying for the MTPC assistance.
·
80
percent to the UST assurance account to pay for approved but unpaid claims
against the account. These monies
cannot be used for ADEQ’s administrative costs.
8. Specifies that the temporary excise tax is collected and processed in the same manner as the existing $.01/gallon excise tax that funds the UST revolving fund.
9. Repeals the temporary excise tax from and after June 30, 2003 and specifies that any monies from this tax remaining in the MTCP and assurance accounts do not revert and can be used for the purposes allowed for those two accounts.
10. Specifies that the permanent closure of a UST is only eligible for coverage from the assurance account (100 percent), if the tank was the source of the contamination that requires corrective action, the closure is performed in accordance with state laws and rules and the release was reported to ADEQ.
11. Allows a person who is not an owner or operator of a UST but who undertakes a corrective action for a release from a UST to be eligible for 100 percent coverage from the assurance account regardless of the date when the release is reported.
12. Makes other technical and conforming changes.
13. Contains a Proposition 108 clause requiring a two-thirds vote of both the Senate and the House of Representatives for passage.
Amendments Adopted by GES Committee
1.
Eliminates
the requirement that ADEQ adopt rules to allow for the in place closure of USTs
without removing or filling the tank.
2.
Changes
the requirements for eligibility for assurance account coverage for permanent
tank closures to specify that the permanent closure of a UST is only eligible
for coverage from the assurance account (100 percent), if the tank was the
source of the contamination that requires corrective action, the closure is
performed in accordance with state laws and rules and the release was reported
to ADEQ.
3.
Creates
a separate MTCP program with its own account rather than using the existing UST
grant account. Monies awarded from the account are in the form of financial
assistance and not grants.
4.
Requires
applicants to the MTCP to provide a completed notification for UST form for
each tank proposed for closure under the project.
5.
Stipulates
that USTs that are not the source of a release are eligible for inclusion in an
MTCP project.
6.
Requires
a participant in the MTCP to provide a report with specified information to
ADEQ upon completion of the project. Once ADEQ confirms that closure
requirements were met, ADEQ shall issue a letter to that effect to the affected
parties.
7.
Limits
ADEQ to using no more than 10 percent of the monies in the MTCP account for
administrative costs.
8.
Specifies
that monies collected from the temporary excise tax for the UST assurance
account are not to be used for ADEQ’s administrative costs.
Senate Action
FIN 2/7/00 DP 5-1-1-0
GES 2/7/00 DPA 9-0-0-0
Prepared by Senate Staff
February 8, 2000