California Code of Regulations › Title 23 - Waters › Division 3 - State Water Resources Control Board and Regional Water Quality Control Boards › Chapter 18 - Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund Regulations › Article 2 - Definition of Terms › Section 2804 - Definitions

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the terms
					 used in this chapter shall have the following meanings:
"Accident" means an unintentional and unexpected
					 event.
"Annual aggregate amount" means the total amount of
					 financial responsibility that is required to cover all unauthorized releases
					 that might occur in one year.
"Annual revenue" with respect to public entities, means the
					 total annual general purpose revenues, excluding all restricted revenues over
					 which the governing agency has no discretion, as reported in the annual Report
					 of financial Transactions submitted to the Controller, for the latest fiscal
					 year ending prior to the date the Fund application was filed. With respect to
					 nonprofit organizations, this term means the total annual revenues as shown in
					 an annual fiscal report filed with the Registry of Charitable Trusts of state
					 and federal tax records, based on the latest fiscal year ending prior to the
					 date the Fund application was filed.
"Board" means the State Water Resources Control
					 Board.
"Bodily injury" means the physical injury, sickness,
					 disease, including death, sustained by any person as a proximate result of an
					 unauthorized release from an underground storage tank or residential
					 tank.
"Certification" means a written statement signed by a
					 claimant attesting to the accuracy and completeness of the facts contained in
					 the written statement.
"Chief financial officer" means the person who normally
					 prepares, verifies or certifies financial information on behalf of an owner or
					 operator. The term means the owner or operator of the underground storage tank
					 if no other individual is designated as the chief financial officer.
"Claim" means a submittal to the Fund for the reimbursement
					 of costs incurred due to an occurrence. A claim consists of several documents,
					 including, but not limited to, the Fund application, reimbursement requests,
					 and verification documents.
"Claimant" means an owner or operator who files a claim
					 against the Fund.
"Corrective action" means any activity necessary to
					 investigate and analyze the effects of an unauthorized release; propose a
					 cost-effective plan to adequately protect human health, safety, and the
					 environment and to restore or protect current and potential beneficial uses of
					 water; and implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the activity(ies).
					 Corrective action does not include any of the following activities:
(a) detection, confirmation, or reporting of
				  the unauthorized release; or,
(b)
				  repair, upgrade, replacement or removal of an underground storage tank or
				  residential tank.
"De facto owner" means the owner of real property who has
					 actual possession of and control over an underground storage tank or
					 residential tank that is located on the property and that has been abandoned by
					 its legal owner and operator.
"Designated representative" means any person who provides
					 financing for costs claimed in a reimbursement request. The term includes the
					 state, any department or agency thereof, or the federal government.
"Division" means the State Water Resources Control Board,
					 Division of Clean Water Programs, or any other division of the board authorized
					 to administer the Fund.
"Facility" means any one, or combination of, underground
					 storage tanks used by a single business entity or person at a single location
					 or site.
"Federal Act" means subchapter IX of the Solid Waste
					 Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976
					 and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (42 U.S.C. §§
												6991-6991i), as it may subsequently be
					 amended or supplemented, and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto. The
					 Federal Act is incorporated herein by reference.
"Financial responsibility" means state and federal
					 financial responsibility requirements for petroleum underground storage tanks.
					 These requirements are established by:
(a) title 40 Code of Federal Regulations,
				  part 280, subpart H (commencing with section
				  280.90), established pursuant to
				  section 6991 c(c) of title 42, United
				  States Code;
(b) Health and Safety
				  Code Section
				  25292.2;
(c) Health and Safety Code, division 20,
				  article 3, chapter 6.75 (commencing with section
				  25299.30); and
(d) article 3 of this chapter.
"Fund" means the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund
					 created pursuant to section
					 25299.50
					 of the Health and Safety Code.
"General purpose revenues" means revenues consisting of all
					 of the following: secured and unsecured revenues; less than countywide funds,
					 secured and unsecured; prior year secured and unsecured penalties and
					 delinquent taxes; sales and use taxes; transportation taxes (nontransit);
					 property transfer taxes; transient lodging taxes; timber yield taxes; aircraft
					 taxes; franchise taxes; fines, forfeitures, and penalties; revenues from use of
					 money and property; motor vehicle in-lieu taxes; trailer coach in-lieu taxes;
					 homeowner property tax relief; open-space tax relief; and cigarette
					 taxes.
"Gross negligence" means any act or failure to act by the
					 owner or operator, its employees, agents, or any other person under the owner's
					 or operator's supervision or control, in reckless disregard of the
					 consequences, that causes or allows an unauthorized release from an underground
					 storage tank or residential tank to occur or to continue.
"Heating oil" means petroleum, as defined in 40 Code of
					 Federal Regulations, section
					 280.12, that is: Number 185, page
					 37117, namely: No.1, No.2, No.4-light, No.4-heavy, No.5-light, No.5-heavy, and
					 No.6 technical grades of fuel oil; other residual fuel oils (including Navy
					 Special Fuel Oil and Bunker C); and other fuels when used as substitutes for
					 one of these fuel oils.
"Initial site investigation" means a soil and groundwater
					 investigation sufficient to identify where contamination resulting from an
					 unauthorized release is most likely to be present.
"Initiation of corrective action" means actual commencement
					 of corrective action work by or under the authority of an owner or operator in
					 accordance with California Code of Regulations, title 23, division 3, chapter
					 16, article 11 (commencing with section
					 2720).
"Local agency" means a local agency authorized to implement
					 Health and Safety Code, division 20, chapter 6.7 (commencing with section
					 25280) pursuant to section
					 25283
					 of the Health and Safety Code.
"Nonprofit organization" means a nonprofit public benefit
					 organization incorporated pursuant to title 1, division 2, part 2 (commencing
					 with section
					 5110) of the Corporations
					 Code.
"Occurrence" means an accident, including continuous or
					 repeated exposure to conditions, that results in an unauthorized release of
					 petroleum from an underground storage tank or residential tank. Unauthorized
					 releases at the same site that require only a single site investigation shall
					 be considered one occurrence. An unauthorized release subsequent to a previous
					 unauthorized release at the same site shall only be considered a separate
					 occurrence if an initial site investigation has been completed for the prior
					 unauthorized release.
"Operator" means any person in control of, or having
					 responsibility for, the daily operation of an underground storage tank or
					 residential tank containing petroleum. The term includes any city, county, or
					 district, or any agency or department thereof, but does not include the state
					 or any agency or department thereof, or the federal government.
"Owner" means a person who owns an underground storage tank
					 or a residential tank. The term includes an owner of real property who is a de
					 facto owner of an underground storage tank or residential tank located on such
					 property; however, the term does not include the state or any agency or
					 department thereof, or the federal government.
"Permit" means a written authorization issued under Health
					 and Safety Code, division 20, chapter 6.7 (commencing with section
					 25280) and includes but is not
					 limited to the permit required pursuant to section
					 25284 for an owner or operator to
					 operate an underground storage tank.
"Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock
					 company, corporation, or other entity, including a government corporation,
					 partnership, limited liability company, or association. The term includes a
					 city, county, district, or state, and an agency or department thereof; or the
					 United States to the extent authorized by federal law.
"Petroleum" means crude oil, or any fraction thereof, that
					 is liquid at 60 degrees Fahrenheit and 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute,
					 including the following substances: motor fuels, jet fuels, distillate fuel
					 oils, residual fuel oils, lubricants, petroleum solvents, and used oils,
					 including any additives contained in the formulation of the substances.
"Petroleum marketing facilities" means all facilities at
					 which petroleum is produced or refined and all facilities from which petroleum
					 is sold or transferred to other petroleum marketers or to the public.
"Petroleum marketing firms" means all firms owning
					 petroleum marketing facilities. Firms owning other types of facilities with
					 underground storage tanks as well as petroleum marketing facilities are
					 considered to be petroleum marketing firms.
"Property damage" means actual loss, injury, or
					 deterioration to a third party's real or personal property which is caused by
					 an unauthorized release of petroleum from an underground storage tank or
					 residential tank.
"Regional board" means a California Regional Water Quality
					 Control Board.
"Regulatory agency" means the Board, a regional board, or a
					 local, state, or federal agency that has responsibility or authority for
					 regulating underground storage tanks or residential tanks or that has
					 responsibility for corrective action or overseeing corrective action, for
					 unauthorized releases from underground storage tanks or residential
					 tanks.
"Regulatory technical assistance" means assistance from a
					 person other than the claimant in the preparation and submission of a claim to
					 the Fund. Regulatory technical assistance includes assistance with completing
					 and submitting the Fund application, reimbursement requests, and supporting
					 documentation, and complying with procurement requirements. Regulatory
					 technical assistance does not include assistance with preparing and pursuing a
					 site closure petition, an appeal to the Division Chief for unpaid claims, a
					 petition for unpaid claims, or an action in court.
"Reimbursement Request" means documents required by the
					 Division and necessary for reimbursement of a claim.
"Release" means any spilling, leaking, emitting,
					 discharging, escaping, leaching, or disposing from an underground storage tank
					 or residential tank into or on the waters of the state, the land, or the
					 subsurface soils. The term does not include releases which are clearly
					 attributable to spills or overfills occurring as a result of filling or
					 emptying of an underground storage tank or residential tank.
"Residence" means a building that is used primarily for
					 dwelling purposes. Buildings excluded from the definition include, but are not
					 limited to, hotels, motels, hospitals, and military barracks.
"Residential tank" means a tank, as defined in Health and
					 Safety Code section
					 25281,
					 subdivision (u), including pipes connected thereto, that satisfies all of the
					 following conditions:
(a)
				  The tank is used for the storage of petroleum.
(b) The tank is substantially or totally
				  beneath the surface of the ground.
(c) The tank meets either (1) or (2) below:
(1) The tank is located at the residence of a
				  person on property used exclusively for residential purposes at the time of
				  discovery of the unauthorized release; or
(2) The tank is located at the residence of a
				  person, the tank is located on property that on and after January 1, 1985, has
				  not been used for agricultural purposes, the tank has a capacity of 1,100
				  gallons or less, and on and after January 1, 1985, the petroleum in the tank
				  has been used solely as home heating oil for consumptive use on the premises
				  where stored.