Revised Texas PST Regulations

Texas Petroleum Storage Tank (PST) Regulations, the new old regulations. On March 19, 2009 Texas PST regulations completely reverted back to Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 334 Regulations after being subject to TAC Chapter 350 reporting requirements for the past 5 ½ years. PST releases that occurred after September 1, 2003 had been subject to TAC 350 (Risk Reduction Program Rule) reporting requirements. Prior to that time PST releases had been subject to TAC 334 (Underground and Aboveground Storage Tanks) regulations. The rule changes reinstate the use of TAC §§334.78 – 334.81 reporting requirements and eliminated reporting requirements for assessment, response actions, and post-response action care for releases of regulated substances from underground storage tanks (USTs) or aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) as specified in TAC 350. The inclusion of PST facilities under TAC 350 was an attempt by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), formerly Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), to create one set of rules that could be universally applied to all environmental releases covered by different TCEQ remediation programs. However, pressure from the regulated community created the necessity to revert back to TAC 334 regulations.

Under TAC 334 regulations, when risk pathways are not present or less risk is posed at a site, corrective action may generally be conducted more expeditiously. Additionally reporting requirements for leaking petroleum storage tank (LPST) sites are more simplified and low priority sites tend to obtain case closure and a “No Further Action” designation in a quicker time frame, resulting in lower costs to the responsible party.

Advantages to TAC 334 Regulations include:

1. Simplified reports – The Assessment Report Form required under TAC 334 guidelines is less time consuming and does not require the level of effort of the Affected Property Assessment Report required under TAC 350.
2. Focuses more on groundwater monitoring and plume stability – In the absence of receptors, groundwater monitoring is performed to demonstrate plume stability and document concentration trends. Once plume stability is demonstrated and concentration trends indicate steady or decreasing contaminant concentration trends, case closure can be requested. The process of documenting plume stability may require as little as 3 to 5 years of groundwater monitoring.
3. In the absence of receptors, construction worker exposure concentrations can be applied as target cleanup concentrations for groundwater. Target cleanup concentrations for construction worker exposure are much more lenient especially for benzene where the construction worker exposure concentration is 20.1 mg/l compared to 0.005 mg/l – 0.5 mg/l assessment levels under TAC 350. Benzene is typically the primary chemical that tends to exceed target concentrations.
4. The use of construction worker exposure concentrations combined with demonstration of plume stability can be helpful in obtaining case closure within a 3 to 5 year time frame.

Whether you need an environmental consultant to preform a complex Phase II Environmental Characterization Project or just preform a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment on a gas station, clients are well served to hire firms with expertise in Texas.

For questions feel free to contact me at 214-666-6800.