| Chairman McNutt called the meeting to order.
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| Trustees Present: |
Absent: |
Don McNutt, Chairman
James Ford, Vice Chairman
John Albert
Tom Kolb
Danny Opie
Tom Pfeiffer
Melvin Schebaum
Dan Schuette
Bruce Work
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Henry Herschel
Gary O'Neal
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| Staff Present: |
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Carol R. Eighmey, Executive Director
Diane Wallace, Executive Assistant
Tim Duggan, Assistant Attorney General
Pat Eriksen, Managing Partner, Williams & Company Consulting, Inc
Pat Vuchetich, General Claims Manager , Williams & Company Consulting, Inc
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Approval of Minutes– January 25, 2006 Meeting
Jim Ford moved that the minutes from the January 25, 2006 Board meeting be approved as written. Tom Pfeiffer seconded. Motion carried.
Monthly Reports
and Decision on Funding New Remedial Claims
Chairman McNutt invited the Trustees to review the monthly reports. Ms. Eighmey noted that transport load fee revenue was still down. Trustees asked about obtaining information from the Department of Revenue on their collection procedures and the Fund's revenues; Ms. Eighmey agreed to contact the Department of Revenue and request a presentation to the Board.
Tom Pfeiffer moved that the Board release funding for the six new remedial claims. Bruce Work seconded. Motion carried.
Cash Flow Projection
Chairman McNutt introduced Pat Eriksen , who presented a cash flow projection and compared it to the projection provided to the Board in 2001. A copy of Mr. Eriksen's presentation is attached hereto.** Discussion ensued about two aspects of the Fund's future liabilities – insured sites where no claim has been submitted and “historical contamination” may exist, and old tank sites that were reported by the statutory deadline but for which no claim has been submitted.
Regarding the latter, Mr. Eriksen noted that the frequency of remedial claims has dropped and it does not appear that the Fund will receive the 1200 new remedial claims that were projected in 2002, although there are a substantial number of properties that are eligible to make remedial claims. Some trustees speculated that many of the properties reported in 1995-97 were properties where heating oil tanks were located, which would not be eligible. Others noted that there were many “protective filings,” where a property was reported just in case it once had a tank on it. Ms. Eighmey noted the list of potentially eligible properties compiled by the PSTIF in 2000 contains about 22,000 listings, but many are duplicates. She and Mr. Eriksen reviewed how the estimate of 1200 new remedial claims had been arrived at previously, and suggested it might be worthwhile to undertake a pilot study of a random sample of potentially eligible sites to try and determine why no claim has been made, whether the property is currently in use, whether ownership has changed since it was reported as a tank site, and other factors; the results of the pilot study could then be used to decide what, if anything, to do about the potentially eligible sites for which no claim has been filed. The Board agreed this type of study might be useful and asked for a cost estimate to conduct such a study.
Regarding insured sites, some trustees speculated that if the 2010 deadline remains, many insured tank owners will “drill their sites” in 2009 and 2010 to determine whether petroleum impacts are present, so they can make a claim prior to the sunset date. Ken Koon clarified that if this occurs, and a release is reported, the owner will be required to conduct a cleanup, even if the location is still an operating tank site. It was noted this could cause an unusually large number of new claims to be filed in the two years preceding the Fund's sunset date.
Legislative Report
Chairman McNutt noted that Tom Kolb has been actively involved in negotiations on various ethanol mandate bills and asked him to summarize the current status. Mr. Kolb reported on recent developments and predicted that some form of ethanol mandate will likely pass this year. Trustees conversed about whether such legislation would impact the Fund's revenues; Mr. Kolb indicated that if the bill allows for suspension of the mandate when the price of ethanol is higher than that of petroleum, and if the Department of Revenue is enforcing payment of fuel taxes and fees on ethanol-blended fuels, there should be little impact on Fund revenues. Mr. Kolb explained how “splash blending” is done, and Ms. Eighmey noted that when the Department of Revenue makes its presentation to the Board, Trustees should inquire about their procedures for reconciling volumes to assure the transport load fee is fully paid on blended fuel.
Chairman McNutt reviewed other legislation of interest, including SB1020, which is advancing as a “consent” bill. John Albert moved that the Board support SB1020, which would require manufacturers and installers of tank equipment to have pollution liability insurance. Jim Ford seconded. Motion carried.
Dan Schuette arrived at this point in the meeting.
Plan for FY07 Inspections and Changes to PSTIF Underwriting Procedures
Ms. Eighmey distributed a summary of the agreed-upon plan for FY07 inspections, (copy attached hereto),** and briefed the Board on the ongoing discussions between the PSTIF and DNR regarding preparation of the Request for Proposals noting that the goal is to engage a contractor to begin work shortly after FY07 begins on July 1. She reported that during the discussions, DNR had asked the PSTIF to change one aspect of how its third party administrator reviews operating records from the tank owners/operators; specifically, she noted that at some sites, the PSTIF staff typically only requests and reviews two months of leak detection records; DNR had requested that the Board's administrator require submission of, and conduct a review of, six months of records at all sites. Ms. Eighmey explained that, depending on the leak detection method being used, the additional records are of limited value, but she had confirmed with Williams & Company their willingness to implement this change at no additional charge, and noted the Board's regulations allow for this flexibility. Ms. Eighmey recommended that the Board accommodate the MDNR's request.
Bruce Work made a motion to change the procedures for review of leak detection records, so that six months of records are routinely requested from and reviewed for all insured facilities. Tom Pfeiffer seconded. Motion carried.
Report on AST Releases - FY05
Chairman McNutt directed Trustees' attention to the report in their notebooks, provided in response to a request made at the January 2006 Board meeting.
DNR FY06 YTD Report
Chairman McNutt introduced Ken Koon, MDNR Tanks Section Chief, to discuss the report provided in the Trustees' notebooks. Mr. Koon explained that, because of the late award of LUST Trust Fund money from EPA, DNR staff had utilized more than one-half of available PSTIF money in the first half of the fiscal year. He noted that will change, as more staff are now charging their time to federal dollars.
Administrative Issues
Report on National Tanks Conference – Ms. Eighmey briefed the Board on this recent event, noting about 600 people attended. She reported that Missouri's tanks program compares quite favorably with other states' programs, and noted that Dan Massey from the AGO gave a presentation that was well-received on Missouri's coordinated efforts to enforce the FR requirement on UST owners/operators.
Report on PEI On-Line Training – Ms. Eighmey reported that as of 3/22/06, there had been 65 “viewings” of training courses via the PSTIF web site, and feedback has been positive from those who have taken the courses. She said the PSTIF was recognized at the National Tanks Conference for its initiative in making these training courses available to its insured tank owners. Chairman McNutt asked if users were completing courses once they begin them; Ms. Eighmey responded that 5 or 6 users had failed to complete the entire course, although in some cases, it was because they signed off before taking the final quiz.
Reminder – Ethics Report Deadline – Chairman McNutt reminded all Trustees to send their personal financial disclosure statements to the Missouri Ethics Commission no later than Monday, May 1.
Next Board Meeting – Chairman McNutt announced that the next meeting of the Board of Trustees would be at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City on May 24, 2006.
Billings – Chairman McNutt called the Trustees' attention to the recent bills in their notebooks.
Tom Kolb 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. Jim Ford seconded. Motion carried.
**For a copy of the presentation 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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