Administrative Rules of Montana › Department 17 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 17.56 - UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS PETROLEUM AND CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES › Subchapter 17.56.5 - Release Reporting, Investigation, and Confirmation › Rule 17.56.502 - REPORTING OF SUSPECTED RELEASES

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
(1) Owners
				and operators, any person who installs or removes an UST, or who performs
				subsurface investigations for the presence of regulated substances, and any
				person who performs a tank tightness or line tightness test pursuant to ARM
				17.56.407
				or
				17.56.408,
				must report suspected releases to a person within the department or to the
				24-hour Disaster and Emergency Services duty officer available at telephone
				number (406) 324-4777 within 24 hours of discovery of the existence of any of
				the following conditions:
(a) visual or
				olfactory observations, field monitoring results or other indicators of the
				presence of regulated substances in soil or nearby surface or ground water, or
				the presence of free product or vapors in basements, sewer or utility lines;
(b) the sudden or unexplained loss
				of product from the tank system;
(c) a failed tightness test, performed in
				accordance with subchapter 4, unless the tank system is found to be defective
				but not leaking and is immediately repaired or replaced;
(d) sampling, testing, or monitoring results
				from a release detection method, performed in accordance with subchapter 4,
				that indicate a release may have occurred, unless the release detection or
				monitoring device is found to be defective and is immediately repaired,
				recalibrated, or replaced, and subsequent monitoring, sampling, or testing
				indicates that the system is not leaking;
(e) the presence of product in the tank
				secondary containment system;
(f)
				erratic behavior of product dispensing equipment or automatic release detection
				equipment unless the equipment is found to be defective but not leaking, and is
				immediately repaired or replaced;
(g) an unexplained presence of water in the
				tank or liquid in the interstitial space between the tank and the tank
				secondary containment;
(h)
				inconclusive results from a tank tightness test, performed in accordance with
				subchapter 4, unless the tank system is found to be defective but not
				leaking;
(i) sampling, testing, or
				monitoring results from a release detection method, required under subchapter
				4, that are inconclusive and cannot rule out the occurrence of a release,
				unless the monitoring device is found to be defective and is immediately
				repaired, recalibrated, or replaced, and subsequent monitoring, sampling, or
				testing indicates that the system is not leaking;
(j) analytical results from soil samples that
				exceed 200 milligrams per kilogram for extractable petroleum hydrocarbons
				(EPH); and
(k) activation of a
				leak detection equipment monitoring alarm, or activation of flow restriction
				mode for a mechanical line leak detector, unless:
(i) within 24 hours of the occurrence of the
				condition, the condition is investigated, the cause of the condition is
				discovered, corrected, and a release to the environment or to secondary
				containment has not occurred;
(ii)
				the leak detection system is returned to a fully operational condition within
				24 hours; and
(iii) records
				documenting the cause of the condition and the investigative and corrective
				actions undertaken in response to the condition are maintained for a one-year
				period at the facility, or at a readily available alternative site, where the
				records may be provided for inspection by the department upon request.