Code of Maine Rules › 06 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › 096 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION - GENERAL › Chapter 600 - OIL DISCHARGE PREVENTION AND POLLUTION CONTROL RULES FOR MARINE OIL TERMINALS, TRANSPORTATION PIPELINES AND VESSELS › Section 096-600-6 - Siting Requirements

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
A.
New Land
				Based Oil Terminal Facilities.
(1)
				Facility Set-Backs. Every new aboveground oil storage tank operating at
				pressures less than 2.5 pounds per square inch gauge must be located in
				accordance with NFPA 30, Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code.
Vertical tanks storing liquids must be separated in
				  accordance with NFPA 30.
(2) Facility Location. New oil terminal
				facilities may not be located within the following areas:
(a) Within 3,000 feet of a surface water body
				intake used as a public drinking water supply;
(b) Within 600 feet of an existing private
				drinking water supply, except a facility's own well;
(c) Within 1,000 feet of a significant ground
				water aquifer; or
(d) Within 1,000
				feet of an essential habitat as mapped by the Department of Inland Fisheries
				and Wildlife, or any refuge, park, preserve, or similar site when such site is
				state or federally designated.
Undeveloped areas and non-oil or non-chemical handling areas
				  are not included in the definition of "oil terminal facilities" for the
				  purposes of this paragraph.
(3) A new oil terminal facility located as
				set forth below is presumed to pose a serious threat to public health or
				welfare or to the environment such that a license for a facility may not be
				issued. The presumption applies if a facility is located:
(a) Within a 100-year floodplain, unless
				critical infrastructure is suitably elevated to four feet above the 100-year
				flood elevation to maintain continuity of operations, except for piers and
				piping from a pier to the terminal. Piers and piping from a pier to the
				terminal must be secured through an alternative means such as marine break away
				couplings;
(b) Within 1,000 feet of
				a freshwater wetland, great pond, river, stream or brook (as defined in
Natural Resources Protection Act,
38 M.R.S.
				§480-B) not used as a public drinking
				water supply, except for piers and piping from a pier to the
				terminal;
(c) Within an area that
				is less than four feet in elevation above the highest astronomical tide (HAT)
				line of coastal wetlands (as defined in
				38 M.R.S.
				§480-B) with a salt or brackish water
				regime (salinity equal to or greater than 0.5 parts per 1,000) that contain
				emergent vegetation tolerant of salt water occurring primarily in a salt water
				or estuarine habitat including, but not limited to, marshes and salt meadows;
				or
(d) Within 1,000 feet of an eel
				grass bed.
(4) An
				applicant seeking a license to establish, construct, alter, or operate a
				facility in a location listed in subparagraphs (3)(a)-(d) above may overcome
				the presumption in paragraph (3) above by persuasive evidence that either:
(a) The facility is unique in some way that
				allows for compliance with the intent of this Chapter through an alternative
				design, operation, or siting proposal which provides a level of protection
				equivalent to that which would be provided by the siting provision in this
				Chapter; or
(b) The facility
				environment is unique in some way such that a valuable resource will not be
				negatively affected by the proposed siting.