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| Trustees Present: |
Absent: |
Don McNutt, Chairman
Jim Ford, Vice Chairman
Harry Bozoian
Tom Kolb
Melvin Schebaum
Renee Slusher
Bruce Work |
John Albert
Ski Mariea
Danny Opie
Tom Pfeiffer |
| Staff Present: |
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Bob Clarke, Operations Manager, Williams & Company Consulting, Inc.
Tim Duggan, Assistant Attorney General
Carol R. Eighmey, Executive Director
Dan Henry, Williams & Company Consulting, Inc.
Diane James, Executive Assistant
Pat Vuchetich, General Claims Manager, Williams & Company Consulting, Inc.
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| Others Present: |
Ken Koon, Chief, Tanks Section, Hazardous Waste Program, MDNR
Ron Leone, Executive Director, MPCA
Jack McManus, Chief Counsel, Agriculture & Environment Division, AGO
David Pate, Midwest Environmental Consultants
Jason Smith, Environmental Works, Inc.
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Chairman McNutt called the meeting to order and thanked Vice Chairman Ford for his chairing the May 19 Board Meeting in his absence.
He then welcomed Harry Bozoian, DNR Acting General Counsel, as a new trustee and the new designee for DNR on the Board. Mr. Bozoian commented that he looked forward to working with everyone.
Chairman McNutt also noted that Ski Mariea is now employed by Mid America Bank and will remain as the banking industry representative on the Board.
Claim Appeals
Sawyer’s Station, Ava – Claim 70261 – Chairman McNutt introduced Jason Smith from Environmental Works to present both appeals. Mr. Smith acknowledged that both claim appeals on the agenda were submitted a few days beyond the 180-day deadline and that both involve relatively small amounts of money, but that he wanted to bring them to the Board anyway.
(Renee Slusher left the meeting to attend to another matter.)
Mr. Smith explained that a portion of the costs for conducting soil gas sampling were denied because the tracer gas used to assure the integrity of the samples was detected by the laboratory in the samples, calling into question the results. However, the DNR accepted the lab results as valid, so on behalf of his client, he requested that the Board waive its appeal deadline and pay an additional $655.00 for this claim.
Pat Vuchetich was invited to explain Williams and Company’s payment decision; he affirmed Mr. Smith’s explanation and noted that, but for the late submittal of the appeal, Williams & Company would have paid the $655 on appeal, since DNR accepted the sample results.
Travelcenters of America Truck Stop, Mount Vernon – Claim 52301 – Mr. Smith reviewed the appeal, in which his client is requesting waiver of the appeal deadline and payment of an additional $1416 for preparation of the Tier I/Tier II Risk Assessment Report. He acknowledged that the cost billed by his firm for the report was higher than normal, but said it was because the site has 50+ monitoring wells and is a complex situation. He noted that his firm had billed more than $12,000 for a Risk Assessment Report at a different site in 2006 and the PSTIF had reimbursed the full amount on that claim.
(Jack McManus arrived at the meeting.)
Pat Vuchetich was then asked to explain Williams and Company’s payment decision. He noted that the cost estimate for the Travelcenters site was submitted in 2006 and was for installation of additional monitoring wells; at that time, the consultant did not ask for pre-approval of costs for a Risk Assessment Report. Later, the consultant requested and received pre-approval of additional costs of $10,000 to prepare the risk assessment. However, when the invoices were submitted, $11,416 had been charged. He summarized by stating that Williams and Company believes an appropriate amount has been paid for the work done.
(Renee Slusher returned to the meeting.)
Trustees questioned Mr. Smith on why the appeals were not submitted within the 180-day deadline specified in the Board’s rules, and why the Travelcenters risk assessment cost more than was quoted in advance for the work. Mr. Smith noted the appeals were only
3-4 days late and said it was simply an oversight that they were not submitted on time. He also acknowledged that the charge for the Travelcenters report was slightly more than anticipated.
Chairman McNutt thanked both Mr. Smith and Mr. Vuchetich for their comments.
Approval of Minutes – May 19, 2010 -Open Session Meeting
Melvin Schebaum moved that the minutes from the May 19, 2010 Board meeting be approved. Tom Kolb seconded. Motion carried.
Monthly Reports
Chairman McNutt noted that the Fund’s June financial statements will remain in draft form until the FY10 audit results are received. He invited questions from the Trustees on the financial statements; there were none.
Chairman McNutt asked if there were any questions regarding the monthly activity reports included in Trustees’ meeting notebook. Harry Bozoian asked whether the decline of the cash balance was due to the reduction of the transport load fee. Ms. Eighmey responded affirmatively, noting that the Board had purposely planned to reduce the cash balance over time because claim frequency is declining, which means a lower reserve level will be needed in the future.
Chairman McNutt asked if more AST owner/operators were applying for coverage. Ms. Eighmey said fewer applications have been received to date than anticipated, and commented that she and John Albert plan to talk about what can be done to encourage AST owners/operators to apply before the end of the year.
Chairman McNutt asked if there were any questions about the large-loss claims or third-party claim payments reported here; there were none.
Budget for FY11
A revised version of the recommended budget for FY11 was distributed; Ms. Eighmey noted the only differences from the one contained in the notebooks distributed before the meeting is that the amount estimated for fringe benefits was increased slightly, resulting in slightly higher figures agencies’ personnel expenses, and the transport load fee revenue estimate was corrected. Renee Slusher moved to approve the revised version for use on the Fund’s monthly financial statements. Jim Ford seconded.
There was a brief discussion about the DNR figures and the expected increase in AST applications; after discussion, the motion carried.
FY10 Goals – Final Report
Chairman McNutt asked if Trustees had any questions or comments on the report; there were none. Melvin Schebaum commended Ms. Eighmey for providing this information and following up on all the goals presented.
Renee Slusher asked for additional information about the ARRA funds; Ms. Eighmey noted that those funds had been spent by the DNR and that the PSTIF’s involvement to date had been limited to efforts to coordinate with DNR. Ken Koon commented that nearly 100% of the ARRA funds had been spent and that he expects some of the sites where federal funds were spent to remove tanks or do site assessments will be ones for which the property owner will seek reimbursement from the PSTIF to finish the cleanup.
Chairman McNutt invited suggestions on what the FY11 goals should be and encouraged Trustees to contact Ms. Eighmey any time with ideas or feedback.
Report from Attorney General’s Office
Chairman McNutt introduced Jack McManus from the Attorney General’s Office to present his report on the ongoing efforts to enforce the financial responsibility (FR) requirement for USTs.
Mr. McManus thanked the Board for the opportunity to bring a report. He briefly reviewed the case load statistics contained in the Trustees’ notebooks and noted that an improved case tracking software to be implemented in the next few months will give him more capabilities for tracking and reporting the status of various cases.
Discussion ensued, during which the Trustees inquired about the length of time it takes for a site to be referred from DNR to the AGO, and how long it then takes the AGO to compel compliance or get a court judgment to shut down operation of the tank system. No data on the timeframes was available. Mr. Bozoian asked Ken Koon if he knew what the average timeframes are; Mr. Koon responded that he thought it generally was about 15 days after coverage lapsed that his staff referred the file to the Enforcement Section, then about 15 more days before the file is referred to the AGO. Ms. Eighmey said her review of records indicates the timeframes are considerably longer than that, and that there are locations where the USTs have been operated for many months before action is taken.
Mr. Bozoian asked whether the FR enforcement referrals have to be made by the Hazardous Waste Management Commission; Mr. Koon responded that they do not and that the referrals are sent directly from the Hazardous Waste Program Director to the AGO. Mr. Bozoian said he would follow up with DNR staff, Mr. McManus and Ms. Eighmey to get additional understanding of the process and to determine how it can be accelerated.
Chairman McNutt thanked Mr. McManus for his report and told him the Board looks forward to continuing to work with the AGO in the future to assure that all tank owners/operators comply with the State’s rules.
(Harry Bozoian left the meeting to attend to another matter.)
Chairman McNutt temporarily skipped the next agenda item, since it involved DNR issues and Mr. Bozoian had left the room.
Administrative Issues
Advisory Committee Appointments – Tom Kolb moved to approve Advisory Committee appointments for Lori Larkin of Chartis Insurance, (replacing Dale Cira), and Ron Bachman of St. Joe Petroleum. Melvin Schebaum seconded. Motion carried.
Inspection Contract – Chairman McNutt reported that the contract for inspections had been awarded to US Calibrating and that planning for FY11 inspections was underway.
TPA Contract – Chairman McNutt noted that since the bidding process for the TPA Contract was underway, it could not be discussed in open session; he indicated the Trustees could ask any questions they might have about it during the closed session.
National Tanks Conference, September 20-22, 2010, Boston, MA – Tom Kolb moved to approve the Executive Director’s out-of-state travel to the conference. Jim Ford seconded. Ms. Slusher asked if the travel expense would be fully reimbursed from federal funds; Ms. Eighmey confirmed that it would be. Motion carried.
(Harry Bozoian returned to the meeting.)
Updates on DNR Issues
UST Operating Rules – Chairman McNutt reported that he and John Albert had attended the June Advisory Committee Meeting, during which there was constructive discussion on several of the proposed rule changes. He said that DNR staff had promised to circulate the actual wording changes to the rules so the Committee could review and discuss the rule amendments before the formal rulemaking process is initiated with the Secretary of State’s office.
RBCA Rules – Chairman McNutt noted there have been no recent communications from DNR on this subject. Mr. Bozoian observed that how, when, or if to proceed with rule changes needs to be decided and invited feedback on what the Board wants.
Chairman McNutt told Mr. Bozoian that agreement had been reached on a set of requirements, which were supposed to be “codified” into rules; instead, DNR staff had subsequently and unilaterally decided to add additional requirements, which the Board had
objected to. He noted that the Department has never explained why it believes the agreed-upon RBCA requirements are inadequate and that this question has been pending for several years. Mr. Work said he hoped that Mr. Bozoian would serve as the DNR trustee on the Board for an extended period of time, noting that each of his two predecessors had committed to resolve this issue but because their tenure on the Board had been so short, nothing had been accomplished toward that end.
Mr. Bozoian said he would be glad to try and foster a resolution of the situation but that he would first have to understand what all parties want.
Management Consultant – Chairman McNutt noted that the DNR had decided not to pursue this and that the Trustees’ approval of that expenditure had effectively expired at the end of the fiscal year.
Well Installation Board (WIB) Rules – Mr. Bozoian reported that he and Ms. Eighmey had recently had a productive meeting with Jerry Prewett from DNR’s Division of Geology and Land Survey, and that the proposed rule amendments are being revised as a result. He said Mr. Prewett plans to send the latest versions to Ms. Eighmey by early August.
ARRA LUST Projects – Chairman McNutt noted this had been briefly discussed earlier in the meeting; there were no further questions.
Administrative Issues, cont.
Billings – Chairman McNutt asked Trustees if they had any questions regarding the billings listed in their meeting materials; there were none.
Chairman McNutt reminded all present that the next Board Meeting would be in Jefferson City on September 15 in the Governor Office Building.
Renee Slusher 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. Harry Bozoian seconded. Motion carried.
(Jim Ford left the meeting for another engagement.)
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