New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 20 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 5 - PETROLEUM STORAGE TANKS › Part 118 - REPORTING AND INVESTIGATION OF SUSPECTED AND CONFIRMED RELEASES › Section 20.5.118.1801 - SUSPECTED RELEASES

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. Owners,
				operators, certified installers, certified junior installers, and testers of
				storage tank systems shall report the following conditions, which are
				considered suspected releases, to the department within 24 hours, in accordance
				with 20.5.118.1800 NMAC, and follow the procedures in Subsection B of this
				section:
(1) evidence of released regulated
				substances in the vicinity of the storage tank site, including but not limited
				to, the presence of non-aqueous phase liquid or vapors in soils, basements,
				sewer and utility lines, groundwater, drinking water or nearby surface
				water;
(2) unusual operating
				conditions such as, but not limited to, no flow of product, slow flow of
				product, the erratic function of product dispensing equipment, the sudden loss
				of a regulated substance from the storage tank system, an unexplained presence
				of water in the storage tank system, the presence of a regulated substance in
				containment sumps or in the annular or interstitial space of secondarily
				contained tanks or piping, or interstitial sensor alarm conditions, unless
				after an investigation:
(a) the storage tank
				system equipment or component is determined not to have released regulated
				substances into the environment;
(b) all defective storage tank system
				equipment or components are immediately repaired or replaced; and
(c) for secondarily contained storage tank
				systems, except as provided for in Subparagraph (d) of Paragraph (2) of
				Subsection A of 20.5.108.808 NMAC, any liquid in the interstitial space not
				used as part of the interstitial monitoring method (for example brine filled)
				is immediately removed.
(3) monitoring or test results, including
				investigation of an alarm, that are anything other than a "pass" or "normal"
				result from any release detection method in 20.5.108 NMAC and 20.5.111 NMAC, or
				that indicate a release may have occurred unless:
(a) the monitoring device is found to be
				defective, and is immediately repaired, recalibrated or replaced, and
				additional monitoring is performed which does not indicate that a release has
				occurred;
(b) the leak is contained
				in the secondary containment; and
(i) except
				as provided for in Subparagraph (d) of Paragraph (2) of Subsection A of
				20.5.108.808 NMAC, any liquid in the interstitial space not used as part of the
				interstitial monitoring method (for example, brine filled) is immediately
				removed; and
(ii) all defective
				storage tank system equipment or components are immediately repaired or
				replaced.
(c) the
				investigation determines no release has occurred;
(d) in the case of statistical inventory
				reconciliation, described in 20.5.108 NMAC, inconclusive or failed monthly
				results are overturned by the third-party vendor within 24 hours of the receipt
				of the report from the vendor; or
(e) the alarm was investigated and determined
				to be a non-release event (for example, from a power surge or caused by filling
				or dispensing from the tank during release detection testing).
(4) failing results from
				continuous monitoring or periodic testing of spill prevention equipment and
				containment sumps; or
(5) other
				evidence of failure or deterioration such as but not limited to holes, cracks,
				or corrosion in the storage tank system.