Among
the agenda items were a review of the Fund's finances and cash flow
projections, discussion on whether to raise or lower the transport
load fee, discussion of risk-based corrective action, a review of
efforts to increase compliance with the "financial responsibility"
requirement for USTs and a discussion of equipment failures and problems.
No
Fee Increase for 2003
At its
meeting on July 19, the PSTIF Board of Trustees approved a recommendation
from its Advisory Committee to leave the transport load fee at its
current level of $40 per 8,000 gallons. The fee is charged on all
petroleum coming into the state, and is the primary source of revenue
for PSTIF. The Board can raise or lower the fee at will, with adequate
public notice. Its decision means the fee will remain at the current
level through 2003, barring unforeseen circumstances.
Reasons
cited were: possible confusion between the fee and the proposed increase
in the fuel tax which will be on the ballot in August, a slowdown
in claims, optimism that risk-based decision-making will result in
future PSTIF savings, and a desire to allow adequate time to see if
the higher fee implemented in 2002 will generate adequate revenues
to support the program's long-term liabilities.
Correction
In the
last issue of Latest Leaks, it was reported that the Missouri Legislature
took $211,000 from the Petroleum Storage Tank Insurance Fund to balance
the FY02 budget. The article failed to note that the Legislature had
appropriated an identical amount for FY03, which began on July 1,
2002.
The PSTIF
Board of Trustees is on record acknowledging its willingness to pay
a reasonable cost for services provided by state agencies, but has
objected to charges being imposed without the Trustees' knowledge
or consent, and has questioned whether some of the charges are duplicative.
The Board is in discussion with the Office of Administration to make
sure that budgets for future fiscal years treat PSTIF fairly.
Risk-Based
Decision Making
Efforts
to craft an improved procedure for setting site-specific cleanup requirements
continue. The Clean Water Commission withdrew a regulation that had
been proposed in the February 1 State Register, and instead asked
DNR staff to form a committee of stakeholders to redraft the rule.
That committee was formed and has held 4 meetings; it continues to
meet every other week.
The RBCA
Stakeholder Committee has agreed to implement a "tiered system," similar
to the ASTM standard. The first tier will contain very conservative
numbers for contaminants commonly found at tank sites; if an owner
wishes to clean up his site to these numbers, his environmental consultant
will be required to develop a plan for doing so. However, in most
cases, determining the cost of that plan will be impossible without
more site-specific investigation, similar to the "Site Characterization"
typically done at tank sites today. When the owner's consultant does
this site investigation, he will then develop alternate cleanup numbers,
(Tier 2), and submit a plan for cleaning up the site to those levels.
Tier 3 will allow for an even more sophisticated analysis of the site,
the contaminants and the risk.
Because
every cleanup decision involves how to reduce the risk from the contaminants
to an acceptable level, Missouri is not changing from a "non-risk"
system to a "risk" system. Rather, the difference will be in how the
consultant determines the cleanup levels, and what information about
the site is considered.
Consultants
who do work for tank site clients or other interested persons may
receive regular updates on the Committee's work by sending an email
to nrshavp@dnr.mo.state.us.
Effort has been made to assure that all interests are represented
on the RBCA Stakeholder Committee, but meetings are open to anyone
who wishes to attend.
SPCC
Plans
After
eleven years of proposals, the US EPA has issued final changes to
its regulations governing Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure
(SPCC) Plans. Initial reviews by some people familiar with the petroleum
industry have not been complimentary. Rather, they indicate the regulations
contain onerous provisions for bulk plants and retail facilities with
aboveground tanks (ASTs), which may put many out of business.
Due to
a statutory change made in 2001, PSTIF no longer enforces the federal
SPCC regulations for EPA.
Meet
Your Trustees
By law,
one member of the PSTIF Board of Trustees must represent "financial
lending institutions." Since July 1999, Gary Collins has served in
that capacity. His unique experiences, however, have provided far
more than the typical banker's perspective and have been a real asset
to the Board.
A
native of southern Missouri, Gary has an undergraduate degree in accounting
and a masters' degree in business administration, both from Southwest
Missouri State University. Early in his career, he was a budget analyst
in the Missouri House of Representatives. He later served as President
of the Missouri Baptist Foundation, then as Assistant State Treasurer
under then-Treasurer Bob Holden. In recent years, he returned to the
private sector, serving as Senior Vice President for Exchange Bank,
headquartered in Jefferson City. With his combination of accounting
and banking expertise, and his experiences in government, Gary always
provides wise counsel and insight during Board deliberations.
Environmental
Regulations Work!
UST
owners and regulators across the country are interested in whether
the huge amount of money spent to comply with environmental regulations
during the last fifteen years has "paid off." Preliminary indications
are that it has.
The US
EPA is assembling data on "leak autopsies" - i.e., When a UST system
leaks today, what happened?
Not surprisingly,
EPA's initial findings noted that piping is the source of leaks more
often than the tank itself. They also noted spills and overfills are
a major source of releases, and that dispensers and pump head areas
are sources of slow leaks that can accumulate over time.
Data
from Missouri's PSTIF was included in EPA's review, so it is not surprising
their results mirror our experiences. PSTIF also is finding that some
of the equipment and devices sold to tank owners to comply with the
new regulations is not performing up to expectations. We encourage
EPA to direct more resources toward evaluating possible manufacturers'
problems.
Reminders
for UST owners
It is
our goal to make the process of insuring your tanks as painless as
possible, while still exercising the diligence necessary to make sure
you are operating your tanks and piping in a way that minimizes the
chance for leaks. We offer these time-saving tips:
a) Be
sure you provide legible information. Some faxes and copies of documents
like printouts from tank gauges are impossible to read, which means
we then have to ask you for the same information again.
b) Schedule
your maintenance tests early. Some vendors will postpone your tests
to handle a more pressing job; if you wait until your policy is due
to lapse, it causes unnecessary stress for everyone!
c) Review
letters from our underwriting staff carefully, and if you do not understand
them, call!
Web
Help
Don't
forget… Our web site, www.pstif.org, contains a lot of helpful information,
including the list of known tank sites, as of June 2000. Use it early
and use it often!
Latest
Leaks is a newsletter of the Missouri Petroleum Storage Tank
Insurance Fund.
Board
of Trustees
William
"Bart" Creech III, Chairman
Bob Abernathy, Vice Chairman
Judith W. Baker
Gary D. Collins
James P. Ford
Neal A. Gibbons, Sr.
Ron Hooker
Robert "Bob" Jackson
Donald W. McNutt
Joyce Murphy
Dan Schuette
Executive
Director
Carol R. Eighmey
PO Box 836
Jefferson City, MO 65102
573-522-2352
Third
Party Administrator
Williams & Company Consulting, Inc.
1-800-765-2765
Send
address changes to:
PSTIF, PO Box 104116
Jefferson City, MO 65110
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