SECTION 165:25-2-39. Spill and overfill protection

(a)   Owners and operators of underground storage tank systems, their employees or agents, as well as those who transport regulated substances to these systems must do everything reasonably possible to ensure that releases due to spilling and overfilling do not occur.

(b)   Owners, operators, their employees or agents, or transporters must ensure that the volume available in the tank (ullage) is greater than the volume of product to be transferred to the tank before the transfer is made and that the transfer operation is monitored constantly to prevent overfilling and spilling.

(c)   Tight fill connections must be used on all deliveries made to underground storage tanks.

(d)   Tampering with overfill protection is not permitted. Any violation of this Section will be subject to the enforcement procedures of this Chapter resulting in fines, contempt proceedings, and/or shutdown of operations as provided by law.

(e)   Except as provided in (e) of this Section, in order to prevent spilling and overfilling associated with product transfer to the petroleum storage tank system, the following prevention equipment must be used:

(1)   Spill prevention equipment that will prevent release of product to the environment when the transfer hose is detached from the fill pipe (for example, a spill bucket).

(2)   Overfill prevention equipment that will automatically shut off flow into the tank when the tank is no more than ninety-five percent (95%) full.

(A)   A drop tube with overfill device is required on all tank systems installed after July 1, 2001.

(B)   Tanks installed before July 1, 2001, must be upgraded to meet these standards before July 1, 2002, unless equipped with an operational ball float overfill device. Use of ball floats is prohibited with suction systems. Staff may require a ball float functionality test.

(C)   Ball float valves that are inoperable cannot be repaired and instead must be replaced with a drop tube with flapper valve, or

(D)   A mechanism to prevent overfilling by sounding an alarm when the liquid level in the tank reaches ninety percent (90%) of capacity and by automatically stopping the delivery of liquid to the tank when the level in the tank reaches ninety-five percent (95%) of capacity.

(f)   On new installations, overfill prevention equipment must be inspected for proper operation at installation and at least once every three (3) years thereafter. Existing systems must inspect overfill prevention equipment for proper operation by October 13, 2018 and at least once every three (3) years thereafter. When inspecting, owners and operators must at a minimum ensure the overfill prevention equipment is set to activate at the correct level in the tank and will activate when regulated substances reach that level.

(g)   On new installations, spill prevention equipment must be tested for liquid tightness at installation and at least once every three (3) years thereafter or use a double-walled spill bucket with periodic interstitial monitoring that is monitored at least every thirty (30) days. Existing systems must test spill prevention equipment for liquid tightness by October 13, 2018 and at least once every three (3) years thereafter or use a double-walled spill bucket with periodic interstitial monitoring that is monitored at least every thirty (30) days.

(h)   The spill and overfill prevention equipment specified in (d) of this Section is not required if the underground storage tank system is filled by transfers of no more than twenty-five (25) gallons at one time.

(i)   Owners and operators must contain and immediately clean up any spill or overfill of regulated substances less than twenty-five (25) gallons within twenty-four (24) hours of incident occurrence. If the spill or overfill cannot be cleaned up within twenty-four (24) hours, is more than twenty-five (25) gallons, or it causes a sheen on nearby surface water, then owners and operators must report to the PSTD within twenty-four (24) hours and begin corrective action in accordance with Part 5 (Corrective Action Requirements) in Chapter 29 of Commission rules.

[Source: Added at 21 Ok Reg 2036, eff 7-1-04; Amended at 22 Ok Reg 1730, eff 7-1-05; Amended at 23 Ok Reg 2261, eff 7-1-06; Amended at 25 Ok Reg 1867, eff 7-1-08; Amended at 32 Ok Reg 780, eff 8-27-15; Amended at 33 Ok Reg 604, eff 8-25-16; Amended at 34 Ok Reg 935, eff 9-11-17; Amended at 35 Ok Reg 985, eff 10-1-18]