May 25, 2016 Meeting Minutes - Missouri Petroleum Storage Tank Insurance Fund
Michael L. ParsonGovernor

May 25, 2016 Meeting Minutes

Capitol Plaza Hotel, Carnegies Room,
Jefferson City, MO

Start Time:  9:35 a.m.

Chairman McNutt called the meeting to order.

Trustees Present:

Don McNutt, Chairman
Jim Ford, Vice Chairman
Tom Kolb
Ski Mariea
Marty Miller
Kristen Paulsmeyer

Absent:

John Albert
James Greer
Danny Opie
Tom Pfeiffer

Staff Present:

Jeff Blaylock, Ford, Parshall & Baker
Carol R. Eighmey, Executive Director
Thais Folta, Assistant Attorney General
Dan Henry, Williams & Company Consulting
Diane James, Executive Assistant
Amy Sommers, Williams & Company Consulting
Patrick J. Vuchetich, Williams & Company Consulting
David Walters, Williams & Company Consulting

Others Present:

Donnie Greenwalt, Wallis Oil Company
Mark Jordan, Wallis Oil Company
Ken Koon, Tanks Section, Hazardous Waste Program, DNR
Ron Leone, Executive Director, MPCA
Heather Peters, Compliance/Enforcement Section, Hazardous Waste Program, DNR
Aaron Schmidt, Department of Environmental Quality, DNR
Jason Smith, Environmental Works, Inc.
Steve Sturgess, Hazardous Waste Program, DNR

Chairman McNutt called the meeting to order and observed a quorum was not yet present.  He then announced some personnel changes, noting Renee Slusher served as OA’s representative on this board for six years and did a great job, but due to her recent appointment and confirmation as a member of the Administrative Hearing Commission, she is no longer eligible to represent OA on the Board.  He welcomed Kristen Paulsmeyer, whom OA Commissioner Doug Nelson recently appointed to serve on the board, who briefly introduced herself to the other Trustees.

The Chairman also noted Tim Duggan is now serving as Acting Director of the AGO’s Agriculture and Environment Division and had negotiated with the Governmental Affairs Division Director to move the Fund’s half-time attorney position from the Environmental Division to the Governmental Division; since Thais Folta works in that division and was already trained on tanks matters, she has agreed to step into that role. Chairman McNutt welcomed Ms. Folta “back” to the tank fund.

Chairman McNutt also introduced Steve Sturgess, DNR’s new Hazardous Waste Program Director; Steve briefly introduced himself to the Trustees.

Finally, Chairman McNutt announced that Jim Ford had been reappointed for another four-year term and was confirmed by the Senate right before the end of the session.

Monthly Reports

Chairman McNutt invited discussion of the April financial statements. Ms. Eighmey asked the Trustees if they wanted to continue carrying a receivable for transport load fees the federal government has not paid since about 2006; her recommendation was to write it off at the end of FY16. After a brief discussion, the Trustees concurred.

Chairman McNutt invited questions about the monthly activity reports or large-loss claims; there were none.

DNR Quarterly Report – Tanks-Related Expenditures

The report was briefly reviewed; there were no questions or comments.

Cleanups and Claim Closures

Chairman McNutt announced that DNR had asked to postpone their presentation to the July meeting. Mr. Miller expressed appreciation for the Trustees’ patience and said it was taking longer than anticipated to gather information on DNR’s perspective and said he wants to coordinate with Ms. Eighmey before presenting to the Board.

[Jim Ford arrived at the meeting.]

Chairman McNutt announced a quorum was now present, so the Trustees could review and vote on the minutes from the March meeting.

Review and Approval of Minutes – March 23, 2016– Open Session Meeting

Ski Mariea moved that the minutes from the March 23, 2016 Board meeting be approved as written. Jim Ford seconded. No corrections or additions were offered; motion carried.

Cleanups and Claim Closures (continued)

Chairman McNutt mentioned EPA’s recent response to his letter, distributed to Trustees prior to the meeting, and noted EPA will be visiting both the DNR and PSTIF offices in the near future as part of its review of the cleanup component of Missouri’s UST program.

Marty Miller asked Ms. Eighmey about the comment in EPA’s letter concerning legal defense costs. Ms. Eighmey responded that, in some respects, the PSTIF’s coverage is more generous than required by EPA’s rules, and EPA has never raised this concern about legal defense costs previously. Mr. Miller asked whether there had been claims where the $1 million limit had been reached and a substantial portion of the expense was legal defense; Ms. Eighmey said there had only been five or six claims in the history of the program that reached the $1 million limit.

Chairman McNutt then reminded Trustees of their previous discussion, in which it was agreed data were needed to better understand whether PSTIF staff are delaying a significant number of cleanups by “refusing to pay” for things; he noted Williams had provided data indicating about 2% of cost estimates are rejected and invited questions or comments.

Mr. Miller asked if the 2% were ones for which a “formal denial” had been issued; Ms. Eighmey said she didn’t think Williams’ responses in all those cases would constitute a “formal denial” and noted the reasons for rejecting the cost estimates varied.

The Chairman closed the discussion on this item by noting the “List of 27” now only has 22 claims on it and Ms. Eighmey has indicated it should shrink further by the next meeting.

Legislative Report

Chairman McNutt asked Ms. Eighmey to review the summary provided in the Trustees’ notebooks. She briefly reviewed the bills of interest, noting MPCA had been instrumental in getting the fee increase for MDA enacted.

Ron Leone commented the petroleum inspection fee had not been increased since 1993; he said MPCA supported it, as well as the liability protections contained in SB657.

Rules Update

MDA Labeling Rule – Chairman McNutt commented it looks like the new labeling rule for higher blends of biofuels will go into effect the end of August.

DNR UST Rule Changes – Chairman McNutt invited Heather Peters to update the Trustees on the proposed UST rule changes; she said the current draft of the rules should be available soon and the Regulatory Impact Report will be issued in a couple months. The Chairman asked how long the public comment period on the rules will be; Ms. Peters indicated a minimum of thirty days is required. Ms. Eighmey asked if the current version of the draft rules would be available prior to the upcoming PSTIF Advisory Committee meeting; Ms. Peters responded affirmatively.

Tom Kolb complimented Ms. Peters on her knowledge of the equipment and rules, noting she was a speaker at a recent seminar he attended, and said he appreciates her support of Missouri tank owners’ compliance efforts.

JCAR Five-Year Rule Review – Ms. Eighmey briefly explained this review, required for all state agencies’ rules, and noted the notice inviting public comment on the PSTIF Trustees’ rules will be published in July. Because the Board’s rules are contained in Title 10, where DNR’s rules are, the notice will name Marty Miller as recipient for comments on the PSTIF Board’s rules.

Kristen Paulsmeyer said she is familiar with this process; she noted public comment on OA’s rules had been invited in July 2015 and she was OA’s point of contact. She said OA’s review of their rules and the comments they received was still underway, noting the agency must address each question posed in the statute for each of its rules.

Administrative Issues

Upcoming PSTIF Advisory Committee Meeting – June 14, 2016 – Chairman McNutt reminded Trustees of the upcoming meeting, at which several important items will be discussed.

New from Other States – The information in the Trustees’ notebooks was briefly reviewed.

Billings – There were no questions or comments.

Chairman McNutt thanked those in attendance for coming and reminded all present that the next Board Meeting would be on July 20, 2016 at The University Club on MU’s Campus in Columbia.

He then asked the Trustees to go into closed session to:
•    Approve the minutes from the two previous closed sessions,
•    Discuss ongoing and threatened litigation; and
•    Discuss matters relating to contracts.

Jim Ford moved that the Board go into closed session to discuss the matters identified by the Chairman, as authorized by Section 610.021, RSMo. Tom Kolb seconded. A roll call vote was taken; motion carried without dissent.

Chairman McNutt adjourned the open session meeting at 10:17 a.m.

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