SECTION 37.815. Amount and Scope of Required Financial Assurance

(a) Owners or operators of petroleum underground storage tanks (USTs) must demonstrate financial assurance for taking corrective action and for compensating third parties for bodily injury and property damage caused by accidental releases arising from the operation of petroleum USTs in at least the following per-occurrence amounts:

(1) for owners or operators of petroleum USTs that are located at petroleum marketing facilities, or that handle an average of more than 10,000 gallons of petroleum per month based on annual throughput for the previous calendar year, $1 million; or

(2) for all other owners or operators of petroleum USTs; $500,000.

(b) Owners or operators of petroleum USTs must demonstrate financial assurance for taking corrective action and for compensating third parties for bodily injury and property damage caused by accidental releases arising from the operation of petroleum USTs in at least the following annual aggregate amounts:

(1) for owners or operators of 1 to 100 petroleum USTs within the United States, $1 million; and

(2) for owners or operators of 101 or more petroleum USTs within the United States, $2 million.

(c) For the purposes of subsections (b) and (f) of this section only, petroleum UST means a single containment unit and does not mean combinations of single containment units.

(d) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, the amount of assurance provided by each mechanism or combination of mechanisms must be in the full amount specified in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, if the owner or operator uses separate mechanisms or separate combinations of mechanisms to demonstrate financial assurance for:

(1) taking corrective action;

(2) compensating third parties for bodily injury and property damage caused by sudden accidental releases; or

(3) compensating third parties for bodily injury and property damage caused by nonsudden accidental releases.

(e) If the owner or operator uses separate mechanisms or separate combinations of mechanisms to demonstrate financial assurance for different petroleum USTs, the annual aggregate required shall be based on the number of tanks covered by each separate mechanism or combination of mechanisms.

(f) Owners or operators shall review the amount of aggregate financial assurance provided whenever additional petroleum USTs are acquired or installed. If the number of petroleum USTs within the United States owned or operated by that person for which financial assurance must be provided exceeds 100, the owner or operator shall demonstrate financial assurance in the amount of at least $2 million of annual aggregate by the anniversary of the date on which the mechanism demonstrating financial assurance became effective. If financial assurance is being demonstrated by a combination of mechanisms, the owner or operator shall demonstrate financial assurance in the amount of at least $2 million of annual aggregate by the first-occurring effective date anniversary of any one of the mechanisms combined (other than a financial test or guarantee) to provide financial assurance.

(g) The amounts of financial assurance required under this section exclude legal defense costs.

(h) The required per-occurrence and annual aggregate coverage amounts do not in any way limit the liability of the owner or operator.

Source Note: The provisions of this §37.815 adopted to be effective November 23, 2000, 25 TexReg 11399