SECTION 334.8. Certification for Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) and UST Systems

(a) Underground storage tank (UST) construction activity certifications. The following UST construction activity certifications are required.

(1) Certification by installer or on-site supervisor. After September 29, 1989, any installer who is employed or otherwise engaged by a UST owner or operator to install or replace a UST system must also certify by signature that the installation methods are in compliance with §334.46 of this title (relating to Installation Standards for New Underground Storage Tank Systems).

(2) Filing requirements. The installation or construction certification information required under paragraph (1) of this subsection must be included in the appropriate sections of the agency's authorized UST registration form or UST registration and self-certification form, as applicable, in accordance with §334.7(e) of this title (relating to Registration for Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) and UST Systems), and must be filed with the agency in accordance with the applicable tank registration time limits prescribed under §334.7 of this title.

(b) Financial assurance certification for USTs storing a petroleum substance. Owners and operators of UST systems regulated under this section must comply with the requirements of subsection (c) of this section.

(c) UST compliance self-certification requirements.

(1) Applicability. Except as provided in this paragraph, the requirements of this subsection are applicable to the owners and operators of USTs regulated under this chapter.

(A) The requirements of this subsection are not applicable to the following USTs:

(i) USTs which are completely exempt or partially exempt from regulation under §334.3 of this title (relating to Exemptions for Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) and UST Systems);

(ii) USTs which are completely excluded or partially excluded from regulation under §334.4 of this title (relating to Exclusions for Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) and UST Systems);

(iii) USTs into which deliveries or deposits of regulated substances are exclusively made by persons other than a common carrier, as defined in §334.2 of this title (relating to Definitions);

(iv) USTs used for storing regulated substances that are not motor fuels as defined in §334.2 of this title; and

(v) USTs temporarily out-of-service under §334.54 of this title (relating to Temporary Removal from Service) which are empty by definition.

(B) Nothing in this subsection affects the requirements under §334.7(d)(4) of this title.

(2) Non-provision of delivery certificate. The agency will not provide a UST delivery certificate for USTs covered by the exceptions in paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection.

(3) Conditions and limitations.

(A) Filing of the UST registration and self-certification form does not relieve an owner or operator from the responsibility for timely compliance with other applicable filing requirements under this chapter.

(B) Completion of the UST registration and self-certification form in a manner that indicates compliance with applicable UST regulations (as specified in subparagraph (D) of this paragraph) will result in the agency's issuance of a UST delivery certificate for the tanks at the facility for which compliance is self-certified.

(C) The agency's issuance of a delivery certificate for a UST(s) does not constitute agency certification or affirmation of the compliance status of the tank(s) in question with agency UST technical and/or administrative requirements, and this issuance does not preclude the agency from investigating these tanks and pursuing enforcement actions under the Texas Water Code when apparent violations are discovered.

(D) The administrative requirements and technical standards that are the subject of the compliance self-certification shall include:

(i) tank registration, as described in §334.7 of this title;

(ii) facility fees, as described in Subchapter B of this chapter (relating to Underground Storage Tank Fees);

(iii) financial assurance, as described in Chapter 37, Subchapter I of this title (relating to Financial Assurance for Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Systems) (Copies of financial assurance documents are required to be submitted as part of self-certification, as specified in paragraph (4)(A)(viii) of this subsection); and

(iv) technical standards, as described in §334.49 of this title (relating to Corrosion Protection), §334.50 of this title (relating to Release Detection), §334.51 of this title (relating to Spill and Overfill Prevention and Control), and §334.43 of this title (relating to Variances and Alternative Procedures) when a variance to all or part of one or more of the previous three sections has been granted by the agency in writing under the procedures described in §334.43 of this title (for the purposes of this clause only, certifying to the "technical standards" listed in this subparagraph includes a certification as to recordkeeping and reporting duties required under those regulations for only the 60 days prior to and including the date of certification).

(4) UST registration and self-certification form.

(A) Requirements for completion of the form.

(i) Each UST registration and self-certification form must be completed with all the applicable information requested on the agency's authorized form for all regulated UST systems at the specified facility.

(ii) Owners or operators who own or operate regulated USTs at more than one facility must complete and file a separate UST registration and self-certification form for each facility.

(iii) The agency will not issue a delivery certificate based upon an incomplete submittal.

(iv) Upon completion, the UST registration and self-certification form must be dated and signed by either the UST owner (or the owner's legally authorized representative) or by the UST operator (or the operator's legally authorized representative).

(v) If additional information, drawings, or other documents are submitted with the UST registration and self-certification form, specific facility identification information (including the facility identification number) must be conspicuously indicated on each document and all these documents must be securely attached to and filed with the UST registration and self-certification form.

(vi) An owner or operator must submit the required UST registration and self-certification form (including any additional or supplemental information required under clause (v) of this subparagraph) to the agency no later than the following dates.

(I) For UST systems where the first storage of regulated substances was initiated before the effective date of this clause, the deadline for submission is 60 days after the effective date of this section.

(II) For UST systems where the date of the first storage of regulated substances was on or after the effective date of this section, the deadline for submission is no later than 30 days after the date of initial storage of regulated substances.

(vii) To ensure timely renewal of a previously issued UST delivery certificate, the deadline for submission is 30 days before the annual renewal date for the UST delivery certificate for that specific facility, as indicated in paragraph (5)(B)(iii) of this subsection.

(viii) The owner or operator must submit annually, proof of current financial assurance, in accordance with §37.870(b) of this title (relating to Reporting, Registration, and Certification).

(B) The facility owner and operator are both responsible for ensuring that the UST registration and self-certification form is fully and accurately completed, and that it is submitted to the agency in a timely manner. To minimize processing delays, the form should be mailed directly to the specific agency office, department, and mail code shown on the form.

(C) When tank ownership at a facility changes, a new certification under this subsection must be made within 30 days of the ownership change.

(5) UST delivery certificate.

(A) Certificate availability.

(i) The owner and operator of USTs regulated under this section must make available to a common carrier a valid, current Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) delivery certificate (or TCEQ temporary delivery authorization under subparagraph (D) of this paragraph, as applicable) before delivery of a regulated substance into the UST(s) can be accepted. The delivery certificate must cover each UST at the facility accepting a delivery. (The owner or operator may comply with this requirement by obtaining or by directing the common carrier to view a current copy of the delivery certificate from the agency's Internet Web site.) The bill of lading for the first delivery of regulated substance into any new or replacement UST at the facility must be attached to the temporary delivery authorization for that facility.

(ii) The owner and operator of USTs regulated under this section must make immediately available, upon request by agency staff, a valid, current TCEQ delivery certificate (or TCEQ temporary delivery authorization under subparagraph (D) of this paragraph, as applicable) for the USTs at a facility.

(iii) The owner and operator of USTs regulated under this section must ensure that a valid, current TCEQ delivery certificate (or TCEQ temporary delivery authorization under subparagraph (D) of this paragraph, as applicable) is posted at a facility. The posting must be in a location where the document is clearly visible at all times.

(B) Annual delivery certificate renewal.

(i) The initial delivery certificate issued for a tank(s) will be valid until the expiration date indicated on that certificate. The expiration will be based on the last digit of the official TCEQ owner identification number for the registered owner of the tank(s) in question, as described in clause (ii) of this subparagraph. It is the responsibility of the tank owner and operator to ensure that an application for renewal of that certificate is properly and timely filed.

(ii) A delivery certificate is renewed by timely and proper submission of a new UST registration and self-certification form to the agency. For each facility, to allow time for processing of the renewal request, the agency must have received the properly completed form at least 30 days before the expiration date of the delivery certificate in question. The agency will not issue a renewed delivery certificate based on improper submission of renewal documents.

(iii) Annual expiration and renewal dates for delivery certificates are determined by the last digit of the official TCEQ owner identification number for the registered owner of the tank(s) in question, and the first renewal for all owners and operators is due in calendar year 2002, and for each year thereafter on the following dates:

(I) if owner number ends in "1" delivery certificate expires on January 31, and renewal is due February 1;

(II) if owner number ends in "2" delivery certificate expires on the last day of February, and renewal is due March 1;

(III) if owner number ends in "3" delivery certificate expires on March 31, and renewal is due April 1;

(IV) if owner number ends in "4" delivery certificate expires April 30, and renewal is due May 1;

(V) if owner number ends in "5" delivery certificate expires on May 31, and renewal is due June 1;

(VI) if owner number ends in "6" delivery certificate expires on June 30, and renewal is due July 1;

(VII) if owner number ends in "7" delivery certificate expires July 31, and renewal is due August 1;

(VIII) if owner number ends in "8" delivery certificate expires August 31, and renewal is due September 1;

(IX) if owner number ends in "9" delivery certificate expires September 30, and renewal is due October 1; and

(X) if owner number ends in "0" delivery certificate expires October 31, and renewal is due November 1.

(C) Identifying tanks. Within 30 days of the effective date of this section, or within 30 days of a subsequent tank installation, the owner and operator of USTs regulated under this section are responsible for ensuring that a legible tag, label, or marking is permanently applied upon or affixed to either the top of the fill tube or to a nonremovable point in the immediate area of the fill tube for each regulated UST at the facility. That tag, label, or marking must clearly and legibly show the designated UST identification number of that UST at that facility and that identification number must be identical to the UST identification number listed on the UST registration and self-certification form filed with the agency under this subsection. All UST identification numbers at a given facility must be numeric, must begin with the number one, and must proceed sequentially without skipping numbers (i.e., 1, 2, 3 . . . ). In addition, for each compartmented UST where a single UST has a separate fill tube for each internal compartment, the numeric UST identification number must be the same for each fill tube serving that single UST; however, to allow differentiation between compartments on the UST registration and self-certification form and at the facility, that common UST identification number must also be followed by a single additional alphabetic identifier for each compartment, beginning with the letter "A" and proceeding sequentially without skipping letters (i.e., 1A, 1B, 1C . . .).

(D) Temporary delivery authorization.

(i) Upon receipt of a TCEQ construction notification form indicating the pending installation of a new or replacement UST system(s), or indicating that a UST system temporarily out-of-service under §334.54 of this title will be returned to service, the agency will issue a temporary delivery authorization for those tank systems.

(ii) The temporary delivery authorization is valid for no more than 90 days after the first delivery of regulated substance into the UST system described in clause (i) of this subparagraph.

(iii) The UST owner and operator are responsible for maintaining complete and accurate records of the date of the first deposit of regulated substances into the UST system(s), as well as the date that the initial 90-day period expires. The bill of lading for the first delivery of regulated substance into the UST system at the facility must be attached to the temporary delivery authorization for that facility.

(6) Revocation of delivery certificate.

(A) Grounds for revocation of delivery certificate. The commission may revoke a delivery certificate for reasons including, but not limited to:

(i) when the executive director determines that any of the information contained or referenced in the compliance self-certification portions of the UST registration and self-certification form was inaccurate at the time the self-certification was made;

(ii) when the tank owner and/or operator submits compliance self-certification information to the executive director which he knows, or reasonably should have known, to be false or deceptive; and

(iii) for any other reason which the commission finds to constitute good cause for revocation.

(B) Procedures for revocation of delivery certificate.

(i) A proceeding to revoke a delivery certificate must be commenced by:

(I) the executive director through the filing of a petition; or

(II) the commission on its own motion.

(ii) If the executive director determines good cause exists to revoke a delivery certificate, the executive director shall file a petition with the chief clerk and provide notice to the owner and operator of the tank(s) in question. To the extent possible, the procedures required to assess administrative penalties under Chapter 70 of this title (relating to Enforcement) shall be followed to revoke a delivery certificate under this subchapter.

(iii) In response to a petition, or on its own motion to revoke a delivery certificate, the commission may:

(I) revoke a certificate; and

(II) issue any other orders permitted by law.

(iv) Revocation of a delivery certificate is cumulative of any other remedies available to the agency by law.

Source Note: The provisions of this §334.8 adopted to be effective September 29, 1989, 14 TexReg 4714; amended to be effective November 23, 2000, 25 TexReg 11442; amended to be effective April 2, 2002, 27 TexReg 2522; amended to be effective November 18, 2004, 29 TexReg 10532; amended to be effective November 9, 2006, 31 TexReg 9034; amended to be effective October 30, 2008, 33 TexReg 8790