The State Water Board oversees the UST program in California. Local agencies, usually cities and counties, regulate approximately 97,000 USTs. Most of these USTs contain petroleum and are found at service stations and convenience stores. Moreover, trucking and transportation companies, hospitals, marinas, airports and federal, state and local agencies use USTs to service vehicle fleets.
Most leaks occur from high risk USTs.
High risk USTs include bare steel USTs without corrosion protection, interior lining, spill and overfill prevention devices and pipeline leak detectors. To protect ground water, State and federal law requires UST owners and operators to replace or upgrade all high risk petroleum USTs by December 22, 1998. However, available information suggests that as of mid-1996 only about 60 percent of all high risk USTs have been upgraded or replaced. The owner or operator's insurance carrier may cancel their coverage and the local agency may revoke their operating permit. Lastly, because the owner will be out of compliance with UST laws, their claim to the UST Cleanup Fund for a grant to clean up a petroleum leak may be denied.