| Chairman McNutt called the meeting to order.
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| Trustees Present: |
Absent: |
Don McNutt, Chairman
James Ford, Vice Chairman
John Albert
Randy Allen
Tom Kolb
Danny Opie
Tom Pfeiffer
Melvin Schebaum
Dan Schuette
Bruce Work
|
Gary O'Neal
|
| Staff Present: |
|
Carol R. Eighmey, Executive Director
Diane Wallace, Executive Assistant
Tim Duggan, Assistant Attorney General
Pat Vuchetich, General Claims Manager
Ray Lentz, Operations Manager
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Claim Appeal – Briggs and Tillman, Claim 70204
Carol Eighmey briefly summarized the claim appeal and recommendation. Trustees asked questions about why the excavation had been done without a claims adjuster present, what soil sampling was done, and what costs were being requested.
Approval of Minutes – May 25, 2005 Meeting
Dan Schuette moved that the minutes from the May 25, 2005 Board meeting be approved. Tom Pfeiffer seconded. Motion carried.
Monthly Reports
Chairman McNutt invited the Trustees to review the monthly reports. Dan Schuette moved that the Board release funding for the five new remedial claims. Jim Ford seconded. Motion carried.
UST Operator Training Proposal - PEI
Chairman McNutt introduced Bob Renkes, Executive Director of the Petroleum Equipment Institute, (PEI), who explained how and why PEI is developing a series of Internet-based training courses. He noted his association's members want their equipment to be properly operated and maintained, and emphasized the goal of the training courses is to prevent leaks, thereby saving the Trust Fund money.
Some Trustees indicated they had viewed the sample course prior to the meeting and thought it was a good training tool. Melvin Schebaum noted his company uses a different brand of automatic tank gauge and asked if other courses that explain the operation of other brands of ATGs were planned. Mr. Renkes indicated that Veeder Root has about 82% of the market nationwide, and had been willing to invest in the production of the course using their equipment; the other manufacturers of ATGs may similarly support future courses describing their gauges.
Ms. Eighmey said she had been anxious to put the proposal before the Board so that tank owners would know whether the PSTIF intended to make the training available before they purchased it in the Fall of 2005. However, she said that, as a result of discussion with Mr. Renkes and Chairman McNutt, she was recommending that the idea be reviewed and discussed by the Board's Advisory Committee before the Board makes a decision on the proposal. Trustees agreed.
DNR Plans for FY06 for Tanks Work
Chairman McNutt introduced DNR's Director, Doyle Childers, who joined the meeting. Dan Schuette distributed a summary of DNR's regulatory activities regarding tanks work; copy attached hereto**. He reminded Trustees that the Board had approved an expenditure from the PSTIF of $1 million for DNR activities in FY06, and distributed a breakdown indicating how much of the money DNR plans to use for personal services and how much for expenses and equipment; copy attached hereto**. He assured Trustees that the Department will not exceed the $1 million.
Mr. Childers then announced that he had recently met with EPA and was told that EPA intended to bring a group of inspectors into Missouri to do 100 UST inspections, because MDNR is not doing any inspections in FY06. He referred to this as an “EPA SWAT Team.” He said that EPA had already done some UST inspections in Missouri and “didn't find them satisfactory.”
Carol Eighmey responded that this was disturbing news, since EPA had recently sent the PSTIF a letter indicating a willingness to sit down together and evaluate all UST activities going on in the state. Director Childers said his impression is that the EPA believes that the PSTIF is a private entity and is working with the state agency. Ms. Eighmey suggested that the DNR and the PSTIF need to prepare a coordinated presentation to the EPA so they will understand what is being done via all of Missouri state government to assure proper UST operations, and to alleviate EPA's concerns; she noted that with the joint efforts of MDNR, PSTIF, and Weights and Measures, Missouri's oversight of USTs is far better than exists in most states.
Bruce Work asked Mr. Childers what the basis for EPA's concern is; Mr. Childers said he really didn't know. Questions were raised about whether EPA's comments were based on a lack of confidence in the previous regulatory program, which included regular DNR inspections, or on the approximately 45 inspections EPA had done in the spring. Mr. Childers said that wasn't clear, and Mr. Schuette indicated that MDNR had not received any reports or conclusions from EPA concerning those inspections. Tom Pfeiffer pointed out that a facility can be in compliance one day, and out of compliance the next, and that no one can adequately evaluate whether an inspection is being properly done unless they accompany the inspector at the time he is doing his work. Mr. Childers was uncertain whether EPA ever conducts such audits. Chairman McNutt said he was aware that EPA was so impressed with their inspections of one petroleum marketer's tank sites and compliance records that they had asked to bring other EPA staff to the location as a demonstration of good tank operations.
Mr. Childers mentioned that EPA might be satisfied if it could be demonstrated that the inspections being done by the PSTIF's contractor are adequate and that DNR has authority to compel owners to come back into compliance if the PSTIF's inspector observes and reports operational issues indicating the facility is not in compliance with environmental regulations. Tom Pfeiffer explained the Board's longstanding desire to assure that one inspection meets everyone's needs, and emphasized the Board's commitment to using taxpayers' money effectively and efficiently, rather than duplicating efforts.
Mr. Childers emphasized that the DNR cannot delegate its authority to enforce its regulations to a private entity. Others pointed out that no one is suggesting such a delegation can or should occur. Mr. Childers suggested that EPA might require DNR to do the inspections; Ms. Eighmey observed that federal UST regulations do not require states to conduct any certain number of inspections. She also pointed out that in some other states, the environmental regulatory agency is using private contractors to conduct compliance inspections and EPA is satisfied with those state's programs. Dan Schuette said the application submitted to EPA in 2003, requesting “state program approval” of Missouri's UST program, and the MOU signed between EPA and MDNR as part of that process, identifies MDNR as the state agency who would be doing inspections.
John Albert mentioned that he did not believe EPA could find any basis for concluding that Missouri's oversight of UST operations was or is deficient.
Don McNutt read from a letter he had recently received from Art Spratlin, and noted the message in the letter did not seem to match the comments EPA had recently made to Mr. Childers. Director Childers said he thought EPA was unclear on what is being done in Missouri. He suggested the Department's legal counsel and the PSTIF's legal counsel should work together to determine if there is any issue related to “the legal delegation of authority.” Randy Allen made a motion that the Board authorize the Executive Director to engage an attorney to represent its interests in discussions with DNR's attorney; Jim Ford seconded. Ms. Eighmey said she did not understand what legal question exists, since there have been no changes to Missouri's laws or regulations since EPA reviewed them and acknowledged that the state has all the authority it needs. She offered to meet with DNR's attorney, Kurt Schaeffer, to get clarification of what the legal question is, noting the Board does not currently have legal counsel other than that provided by the Attorney General's office. After further discussion, Mr. Allen and Mr. Ford withdrew their motion.
Melvin Schebaum asked whether the 1100 inspections that the PSTIF plans to do in FY06 can serve everyone's interests and satisfy the EPA; he noted that any observations indicating a tank owner/operator is not complying with environmental rules could be provided to DNR for follow-up. He suggested that if DNR receives or has access to the inspection reports, he does not see why there is a problem. Jim Ford noted that private contractors are conducting inspections in other states, including Iowa, and asked whether EPA is complaining about those states' programs. Chairman McNutt asked if the contract with Rounds and Associates could be transferred from the PSTIF to DNR; there were questions about how that might be accomplished and whether that would satisfy EPA's concerns.
After much discussion, it was agreed that the DNR and the PSTIF would work together to try and address EPA's concerns. Chairman McNutt thanked Mr. Childers for coming to the meeting.
Recommendation re: FY06 Inspections
Dan Schuette moved that the Board postpone its assignment to Rounds and Associates for FY06 until the September 21 Board meeting. Bruce Work seconded. Ms. Eighmey noted that delaying action may limit how many inspections the contractor can do, since the contract is for a full year and the postponement would mean Rounds would only have nine months to do a twelve-month assignment. Motion carried.
FY06 PSTIF Budget
Chairman McNutt asked Trustees to review the budget in their notebooks. Jim Ford moved that the proposed budget be used on the monthly financial statements, except that the costs for the PEI training would not be included at this time. Tom Pfeiffer seconded. Motion carried.
Updates
Trustees reviewed the report in their notebooks on the ongoing efforts to enforce the “Financial Responsibility” requirement for USTs. Tim Duggan reported that the
AGO had started with a list of about 150 locations that had no FR mechanism, and that list is now down to about 40-45 sites, which will be presented to the Hazardous Waste Management Commission at its August meeting with a request that the Commission refer all those still not in compliance to the AGO for action, which may include fines and/or litigation. He thanked the PSTIF and Weights and Measures for their support of this effort. Ms. Eighmey noted this is an example of the effectiveness of Missouri's collaborative efforts to enforce UST regulations.
The status of RBCA implementation was briefly reviewed.
Administrative Issues
Ms. Eighmey reported on her recent attendance at the State Fund Administrators' Conference in June, noting one emphasis of the conference is EPA's increasing oversight of state tank funds to assure that they are legitimate FR mechanisms and are solvent enough to provide funds when needed.
Chairman McNutt called the Trustees' attention to the recent bills in their notebooks.
Tom Pfeiffer moved that the Board go into closed session to discuss and vote on matters related to legal actions, causes of action, litigation and/or personnel issues pursuant to Section 610.021, RSMo. Dan Schuette seconded. Motion carried.
If
such action is approved a majority vote of a quorum of the Board,
the Board of Trustees of the Petroleum Storage Tank Insurance Fund
may go into closed session at this meeting to discuss legal, confidential
or privileged matters pursuant to Section 610.021, RSMo.
**For a copy of either of the presentations mentioned in these minutes, please contact the PSTIF Office. Please note, if presentation(s) are in electronic format, they will be sent to you as an email attachment per your request. However, as some presentations may be in hard copy only, please provide your mailing address at the time of your email request.
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