Chapter 880 Oregon Laws 1999

Session Law

AN ACT

SB 542

Relating to oil heat tanks; creating new provisions; amending ORS 466.706 and 466.750; and repealing ORS 316.746, 466.850, 466.855, 466.860, 466.865, 466.870, 469.228, 469.230, 469.232, 469.234, 469.236, 469.240, 469.241, 469.242, 469.243, 469.245, 469.246, 469.247, 469.248, 469.249, 469.250, 469.253, 469.254, 469.258, 469.259, 469.260, 469.262, 469.267, 469.269, 469.274, 469.276, 469.278, 469.280, 469.282, 469.284, 469.286, 469.290, 469.292, 469.296, 469.298 and 469.991.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. The Oil Heat Commission is abolished. On the effective date of this 1999 Act, the terms of all the members of the commission shall cease. The Secretary of State shall wind up the affairs of the Oil Heat Commission in accordance with ORS 182.080. However, the Secretary of State may not collect an assessment from an oil marketer for any revenue derived from the business of being an oil marketer after October 4, 1997.

SECTION 2. ORS 316.746, 469.228, 469.230, 469.232, 469.234, 469.236, 469.240, 469.241, 469.242, 469.243, 469.245, 469.246, 469.247, 469.248, 469.249, 469.250, 469.253, 469.254, 469.258, 469.259, 469.260, 469.262, 469.267, 469.269, 469.274, 469.276, 469.278, 469.280, 469.282, 469.284, 469.286, 469.290, 469.292, 469.296, 469.298 and 469.991 are repealed.

SECTION 3. The Heating Oil Education and Conservation Account and the Heating Oil Remedial Action Account are abolished. After the Secretary of State has completed winding up the affairs of the Oil Heat Commission pursuant to ORS 182.080 (1) and after payment pursuant to ORS 182.080 (2) of all expenses incurred by the Secretary of State in winding up and concluding the affairs of the Oil Heat Commission and the administration of the statutes repealed by section 2 of this 1999 Act, all unobligated balances of moneys appropriated or otherwise made available to the Oil Heat Commission shall revert to the General Fund for expenditure for general governmental purposes.

SECTION 4. (1) For purposes of this section:

(a) "Committee" means the Oil Heat Tank Advisory Committee.

(b) "Heating oil" means Number 1 or 2 heating oil that is delivered to a tank and used to create heat. "Heating oil" does not include any petroleum products that are subject to the requirements of section 3a, Article IX of the Oregon Constitution, or ORS 319.020 or 319.530, or that are otherwise used as transportation fuels.

(c) "Heating oil tank" means an aboveground or underground tank and pipes connected to the tank that contain heating oil for heating a building with human habitation or water heating not used for commercial processing.

(2) There is established an Oil Heat Tank Advisory Committee to be appointed by the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality. The director shall appoint a committee with representatives from each of the following: oil heat dealers, homeowners associations, environmental advocates, environmental service contractors, real estate agents, financial institutions and pollution liability insurers. The committee shall investigate and create a report on streamlining and simplifying procedures for homeowners faced with heating oil tank cleanups, decreasing the cost of heating oil tank cleanups and assessing the availability of private insurance coverage for heating oil tanks.

(3) The committee shall report its findings to the Legislative Assembly by September 1, 2000.

SECTION 5. Section 4 of this 1999 Act is repealed on December 31, 2000.

SECTION 6. (1) When the use of an underground heating oil tank is terminated because the tank is replaced or an oil-heated building or residence is converted to a different primary source of heat:

(a) The property owner shall ensure that the underground heating oil tank has been emptied of oil, which shall be appropriately managed.

(b) The vent line shall be left in place if the tank is not decommissioned.

(c) The person installing the new heating equipment shall advise the property owner that it is illegal to disconnect a heating oil tank without pumping out the tank and that there are practices recommended by the Department of Environmental Quality for decommissioning a heating oil tank.

(2) When real property is sold, the seller shall ensure that any abandoned heating oil tank that is known to be on the property has been emptied of oil, which shall be appropriately managed, and the seller shall provide to the buyer documentation showing that the tank has been emptied.

SECTION 7. Notwithstanding ORS 466.850 to 466.865, from the effective date of this 1999 Act until December 31, 1999, no funds shall be deposited into the Underground Heating Oil Tank Technical Assistance and Grant Fund.

SECTION 8. ORS 466.850, 466.855, 466.860, 466.865 and 466.870 are repealed on December 31, 1999.

SECTION 9. ORS 466.750 is amended to read:

466.750. (1) In order to safeguard the public health, safety and welfare, to protect the state's natural and biological systems, to protect the public from unlawful underground tank installation and retrofit procedures, to assure the highest degree of leak prevention from underground storage tanks and to insure the appropriate cleanup of oil spills and releases, the Environmental Quality Commission may adopt a program to regulate persons providing underground storage tank installation and removal, retrofit, testing, inspection and remedial action services.

(2) As part of the program established under subsection (1) of this section, the commission also may regulate persons who provide [remedial] corrective action on heating oil tanks. [covered under ORS 469.228 to 469.298 and 469.991. As used in this section, "remedial action" has the meaning given that term in ORS 469.228.]

(3) The program established under subsection (1) of this section may include a procedure to license persons who demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Department of Environmental Quality, the ability to service underground storage tanks and heating oil tanks. This demonstration of ability may consist of written or field examinations. The commission may establish different types of licenses for different types of demonstrations, including but not limited to:

(a) Installation, removal, retrofit and inspection of underground storage tanks;

(b) Tank integrity testing;

(d) Cleanup of soil contamination resulting from spills or releases of oil from underground storage tanks; and

(e) Cleanup of soil contamination resulting from the release of heating oil from heating oil tanks. [under ORS 469.228 to 469.298 and 469.991.]

(4) The program adopted under subsection (1) of this section may allow the department after opportunity for hearing under the provisions of ORS 183.310 to 183.550, to revoke a license of any person offering underground storage tank or heating oil tank services who commits fraud or deceit in obtaining a license or who demonstrates negligence or incompetence in performing underground tank services.

(5) The program adopted under subsection (1) of this section shall:

(a) Provide that no person may offer to perform or perform services for which a license is required under the program without such license.

(b) Establish a schedule of fees for licensing under the program. The fees shall be in an amount sufficient to cover the costs of the department in administering the program.

(6) The following persons shall apply for an underground storage tank permit from the department:

(a) An owner of an underground storage tank currently in operation;

(b) An owner of an underground storage tank taken out of operation between January 1, 1974, and the operative date of this section; and

(c) An owner of an underground storage tank that was taken out of operation before January 1, 1974, but that still contains a regulated substance.

SECTION 10. ORS 466.706 is amended to read:

466.706. As used in ORS 466.706 to 466.845 and 466.994:

(1) "Commercial lending institution" means any financial institution or trust company, as those terms are defined in ORS 706.008, or any cooperative financial institution regulated by an agency of the Federal Government or this state.

(2) "Commission" means the Environmental Quality Commission.

(3) "Corrective action" means remedial action taken to protect the present or future public health, safety, welfare or the environment from a release of a regulated substance. "Corrective action" includes but is not limited to:

(a) The prevention, elimination, removal, abatement, control, minimization, investigation, assessment, evaluation or monitoring of a hazard or potential hazard or threat, including migration of a regulated substance; or

(b) Transportation, storage, treatment or disposal of a regulated substance or contaminated material from a site.

(4) "Decommission" means to remove from operation an underground storage tank, including temporary or permanent removal from operation, abandonment in place or removal from the ground.

(5) "Department" means the Department of Environmental Quality.

(6) "Facility" means any one or combination of underground storage tanks and underground pipes connected to the tanks, used to contain an accumulation of motor fuel, including gasoline or diesel oil, that are located at one contiguous geographical site.

(7) "Fee" means a fixed charge or service charge.

(8) "Guarantor" means any person other than the permittee who by guaranty, insurance, letter of credit or other acceptable device, provides financial responsibility for an underground storage tank as required under ORS 466.815.

(9) "Heating oil tank" [has the meaning given that term in ORS 469.228] means an aboveground or underground tank and pipes connected to the tank that contain heating oil for heating a building with human habitation or water heating not used for commercial processing.

(10) "Investigation" means monitoring, surveying, testing or other information gathering.

(11) "Local unit of government" means a city, county, special service district, metropolitan service district created under ORS chapter 268 or a political subdivision of the state.

(12) "Oil" means gasoline, crude oil, fuel oil, diesel oil, lubricating oil, sludge, oil refuse and any other petroleum related product or fraction thereof that is liquid at a temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit and a pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute.

(13) "Owner" means the owner of an underground storage tank.

(14) "Permittee" means the owner or a person designated by the owner who is in control of or has responsibility for the daily operation or maintenance of an underground storage tank under a permit issued pursuant to ORS 466.760.

(15) "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation, partnership, joint venture, consortium, association, state, municipality, commission, political subdivision of a state or any interstate body, any commercial entity or the Federal Government or any agency of the Federal Government.

(16) "Regulated substance" means:

(a) Any substance listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 40 CFR Table 302.4 pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 as amended (P.L. 96-510 and P.L. 98-80), but not including any substance regulated as a hazardous waste under 40 CFR Part 261 and OAR 340 Division 101;

(b) Oil; or

(17) "Release" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, emitting, leaking or placing of a regulated substance from an underground storage tank into the air or into or on land or the waters of the state, other than as authorized by a permit issued under state or federal law.

(18) "Stage I vapor collection system" means a system where gasoline vapors are forced from a tank into a vapor-tight holding system or vapor control system through direct displacement by the gasoline being loaded.

(19) "Stage II vapor collection system" means a system where at least 90 percent, by weight, of the gasoline vapors that are displaced or drawn from a vehicle fuel tank during refueling are transferred to a vapor-tight holding system or vapor control system.

(20) "Underground storage tank" means any one or combination of tanks and underground pipes connected to the tank, used to contain an accumulation of a regulated substance, and the volume of which, including the volume of the underground pipes connected to the tank, is 10 percent or more beneath the surface of the ground.

(21) "Waters of the state" has the meaning given that term in ORS 468B.005.

Approved by the Governor July 30, 1999

Filed in the office of Secretary of State July 30, 1999

Effective date October 23, 1999

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