Texas Administrative Code › Title 30 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Part 1 - TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 334 - UNDERGROUND AND ABOVEGROUND STORAGE TANKS › Subchapter A - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 334.2 - Definitions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter,
					 have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
					 otherwise.
(1) Abandonment in-place--A
				  method of permanent removal of an underground storage tank from service where
				  the tank is left in the ground after appropriate preparation and filling with
				  an acceptable solid inert material in accordance with the requirements of
				  §
										334.55
				  of this title (relating to Permanent Removal from Service).
(2) Abatement--The process of reducing in
				  sufficient degree or intensity the source of the release or impacted area, and
				  potential fire, explosion, or vapor hazards, such that immediate threats to
				  human health no longer exist. This includes the removal, as necessary, of all
				  regulated substances from any confirmed or suspected release source (including
				  associated aboveground or underground tanks, individual tank compartments, or
				  associated piping) and the removal of phase-separated regulated substances from
				  the impacted area.
(3) Aboveground
				  release--Any release to the surface of the land or to surface water, including,
				  but not limited to, releases from the aboveground portion of an underground
				  storage tank (UST) system and releases associated with overfills and transfer
				  operations during the dispensing, delivering, or removal of regulated
				  substances into or out of a UST system.
(4) Aboveground storage tank (AST)--A
				  non-vehicular device (including any associated piping) that is made of
				  non-earthen materials; located on or above the surface of the ground, or on or
				  above the surface of the floor of a structure below ground, such as
				  mineworking, basement, or vault; and designed to contain an accumulation of
				  petroleum products.
(5) Action
				  level--The concentration of constituents of any substance or product listed in
				  §
										334.1(a)(1)
				  of this title (relating to Purpose and Applicability) in the soil or water at
				  which corrective action will be required.
(6) Airport hydrant system--An underground
				  storage tank system which fuels aircraft and operates under high pressure with
				  large diameter piping that typically terminates into one or more hydrants (fill
				  stands). The airport hydrant system begins where fuel enters one or more tanks
				  from an external source such as a pipeline, barge, railcar, or other motor fuel
				  carrier.
(7) Allowable cost--As
				  defined by §
										334.308
				  of this title (relating to Allowable Costs and Restrictions on Allowable
				  Costs).
(8) American National
				  Standards Institute (ANSI)--A nationally recognized organization which provides
				  certifications and standards for consumer products and services.
(9) American Petroleum Institute (API)--A
				  nationally recognized organization which provides certifications and standards
				  for petroleum equipment and services.
(10) Ancillary equipment--Any devices that
				  are used to distribute, meter, or control the flow of petroleum substances or
				  hazardous substances into or out of an underground storage tank, including, but
				  not limited to, piping, fittings, flanges, valves, and pumps.
(11) Appropriate regional office--The
				  agency's regional field office which has jurisdiction for conducting authorized
				  agency regulatory activities in the area where a particular underground storage
				  tank system or aboveground storage tank system is located.
(12) Association for Composite Tanks (ACT)--A
				  trademark of the former Association for Composite Tanks, now a licensed
				  trademark of the Steel Tank Institute.
(13) ASTM International (formerly known as
				  American Society of Testing and Materials)--A nationally recognized
				  organization which provides certifications and standards for products and
				  services.
(14) Backfill--The volume
				  of materials or soils surrounding the underground storage tank bounded by the
				  ground surface, walls, and floor of the tank pit.
(15) Below-ground release--Any release to the
				  subsurface of the land or to groundwater, including, but not limited to,
				  releases from the below-ground portions of an underground storage tank (UST)
				  system and releases associated with overfills and transfer operations during
				  the dispensing, delivering, or removal of regulated substances into or out of a
				  UST system.
(16) Beneath the
				  surface of the ground--Beneath the ground surface or otherwise covered with
				  earthen material.
(17) Cathodic
				  protection--A technique to prevent corrosion of a metal surface by making that
				  surface the cathode of an electrochemical cell, normally by means of either the
				  attachment of galvanic anodes or the application of impressed
				  current.
(18) Change-in-service--A
				  method of permanent removal from service involving the permanent conversion of
				  a regulated underground storage tank to a tank which is not regulated under
				  this chapter, where all regulated substances are properly removed by emptying
				  and cleaning, and the tank is left in the ground for the storage of materials
				  other than regulated substances.
(19) Closure letter--A letter issued by the
				  agency which states that, based on the information available, the agency agrees
				  that corrective action has been completed for the referenced release in
				  accordance with agency requirements.
(20) Commingled--A combination or mixture of
				  a petroleum product and a substance other than a petroleum product (excluding
				  soil and/or water).
(21) Common
				  carrier--With respect to delivery prohibitions, a person (as defined in this
				  section) who physically delivers a regulated substance into an underground
				  storage tank or an aboveground storage tank directly from a cargo tank which is
				  affixed or mounted to a self-propelled, towable, or pushable vehicle (e.g.,
				  wagon, truck, trailer, railcar, aircraft, boat, or barge).
(22) Compatible--The ability of two or more
				  substances to maintain their respective physical and chemical properties upon
				  contact with one another for the design life of the tank system under
				  conditions likely to be encountered in the underground storage tank.
(23) Composite tank--A single-wall or
				  double-wall steel tank, to which a fiberglass-reinforced plastic laminate or
				  cladding has been factory-applied to the external surface of the outer tank
				  wall.
(24) Comprehensive
				  Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)--The federal
				  Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980,
				  as amended.
(25) Consumptive
				  use--With respect to heating oil, the utilization and consumption of heating
				  oil on the premises where stored.
(26) Containment sump--A liquid tight
				  container that protects the environment by containing leaks and spills of
				  regulated substances from piping, dispensers, pumps and related components in
				  the containment area. Containment sumps may be single walled or secondarily
				  contained and located at the top of tank (tank top or submersible turbine pump
				  sump), underneath the dispenser (under dispenser containment sump), or at other
				  points in the piping run (transition or intermediate sump).
(27) Corporate fiduciary--An entity chartered
				  by the Texas Department of Banking, the Texas Department of Savings and
				  Mortgage Lending, or the United States Office of the Comptroller of the
				  Currency that acts as a receiver, conservator, guardian, executor,
				  administrator, trustee, or fiduciary of real or personal property.
(28)Corrective action--Any assessment,
				  monitoring, and remedial activities undertaken to investigate the extent of,
				  and to remediate, contamination.
(29) Corrective action plan (or remedial
				  action plan)--A detailed plan developed to address site remediation of soil,
				  groundwater, or surface water contamination that provides for required
				  protection of human health, safety, and the environment. The selection of the
				  most effective and efficient remedial method will be dictated by the nature and
				  location of the release, the site soils, hydrogeological conditions, and the
				  required degree of remediation. The remedial method selection should take into
				  consideration such factors as cost, time, and state compliance requirements
				  with each method. The title of any report which contains a corrective action
				  plan must include the designation "remedial action plan."
(30) Corrosion specialist--A person who, by
				  reason of a thorough knowledge of the physical sciences and the principles of
				  engineering and mathematics acquired by a professional education and related
				  practical experience, is qualified to engage in the practice of corrosion
				  control on buried or submerged metal piping systems and metal tanks, and who is
				  either:
(A) certified as a corrosion
				  specialist or a cathodic protection specialist by NACE International;
				  or
(B) licensed as a professional
				  engineer by the Texas Board of Professional Engineers in a branch of
				  engineering that includes education and experience in corrosion control of
				  buried or submerged metal piping systems and metal tanks.