Mission & Purpose

Mission: Spill Prevention and Technical Assistance

Purpose - To provide technical information and guidance to assist storage tank owner/operator with:

1. Development and implementation of preventative measures to reduce the potential for releases from underground storage tank systems, including measures operators can take to reduce the likelihood and minimize impact of spills during filling operations.
   
2. Procedures for reporting releases or threats of a release from underground storage tanks (UST) or aboveground storage tanks (AST).
3. Guidance for assessment and remediation during tank removal.
4. Guidance for Homeowners with:
   • underground storage tanks for heating oil
   • release of heating oil from tank or piping
5. Guidance for oil delivery professionals.
6. Spill Prevention Contingency Plan development assistance for facilities with AST and/or UST.

Information & Forms specific to fuel oil and storage tanks

LUST Grant Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) and application

MassDEP announces the availability of funding to assist Massachusetts communities with assessment and cleanup of leaking underground storage tanks that contain (or contained) motor fuel. This funding has been made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 through the federal Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Grant Program.

MS Word 699 KB | PDF 571 KB
Applications are due March 26, 2010

American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)

Learn about grants, tax incentives, loans and reimbursement opportunities available to Bay State communities, businesses, and residents interested in making Environment-related investments, including:
Clean Water Act (604b) Competitve Grant Program
Clean and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
Diesel Emissions Reduction
Leaking Underground Storage Tanks
Brownfields
Superfund Hazardous Waste Cleanup
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Homeowners and Small Property Owners

The homeowners web page is a central respository of BWSC general and technical guidance material that provides homeowners with assistance in reporting a spill, cleaning up a spill, hiring a Licensed Site Professional, understanding the Massachusetts Contingency Plan, and streamlining the cleanup process.
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UST Closure Assessment Manual

This policy is intended to provide guidance on how to fulfill the requirement to measure for the presence of contamination at the time of a closure of an Underground Storage Tank, pursuant to the Massachusetts Fire Prevention Regulations, 527 CMR 9.00 .
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Interim Remediation Waste Management Policy for Petroleum Contaminated Soils

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WSC #02-411: Characterizing Risks Posed by Petroleum Contaminated Sites: Implementation of VPH/EPH Approach

This Policy provides guidance for parties conducting response actions under the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (MCP) on the use and application of the Volatile Petroleum Hydrocarbons (VPH) and Extractable Petroleum Hydrocarbons (EPH) methods to characterize risks posed by releases of petroleum products to the environment. This Policy updates and replaces draft documents that were issued on October 31, 1997 and June 2001. Parties who are currently using criteria and guidance contained in the June 2001 draft document may do so until May 1, 2003. A summary of significant changes between these earlier drafts and this Final Policy is provided in Appendix 6.
October 2002
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Interim Final Petroleum Report: Development of Health-Based Alternative to the Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) Parameter

This document describes an alternative approach to the analysis and interpretation of the "TPH" parameter used at oil contaminated waste sites. The alternative can be used to perform site-specific risk assessments or to develop health-based cleanup standards for petroleum hydrocarbons. Rather than quantifying the entire range of petroleum hydrocarbons as one mass, a technique is used which divides the broad chemical classes of petroleum hydrocarbons (alkanes, cycloalkanes, alkenes and aromatics) into subgroups of compounds based on numbers of carbon atoms in the compounds in each subgroup and translates the masses of compounds in each specific segment into discrete estimates of health risk for specified exposure scenarios.
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Links

MassDEP Underground Storage Tank (UST) Program

Responsibilityfor administering the tank registration and compliance inspection provisions of the Massachusetts Underground Storage Tank (UST) Program (527 CMR 9.00) was transferred from the Department of Fire Safety (DFS) to the Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) in July 2009. In addition, MassDEP assumed responsibility for the state's inventory of underground storage tanks (established by 527 CMR 5.06).
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Department of Revenue (DOR) UST Program

The Department of Revenue's Online Service Center for the Underground Storage Tank Program oversees the operations of two programs: the Petroleum Product Cleanup Fund and the Cities and Towns Municipal Grants Program. The Petroleum Product Cleanup Fund provides owners and operators of underground storage tank dispensing facilities, with reimbursement for costs they incur in cleaning up releases to the environment. The Cities and Towns Municipal Grants Program provides up to fifty percent reimbursement to municipal entities for costs they incur in removing and/or replacing their own underground storage tanks.
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Office of Underground Storage Tanks (EPA)

The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST) provides updated information relevant to the federal underground storage tank (UST) program and technical and administrative support to state programs.
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