Section 18 AAC 78.200 - Investigating and reporting a suspected release(a) If a release of petroleum is suspected, the owner or operator of the UST shall investigate the UST site using methods required under 18 AAC 78.210 and report to the department within the period specified for any of the following conditions: (1) not later than 24 hours after the owner, operator, or another person discovers released petroleum at the UST site or in the surrounding area, including the presence of free product, soil contamination, surface water or groundwater contamination, or the presence of vapors in soils, basements, sewer or utility lines, or nearby surface water or groundwater;(2) not later than seven days after the owner, operator, or another person observes unusual operating conditions, including the erratic behavior of dispensing equipment, the sudden loss of petroleum from the UST, an unexplained presence of water in the tank, or liquid in the interstitial space of secondary containment systems, unless (A) the system equipment or component is found not to be releasing petroleum to the environment;(B) any defective system equipment or component is immediately repaired; and(C) for secondary containment systems, except as provided for in 18 AAC 78.065(h)(2)(B)(iv), any liquid in the interstitial space is immediately removed; however, liquid used as part of the interstitial monitoring system, such as a system that uses a brine-filled interstitial space, need not be removed; and(3) not later than seven days after monitoring results, including investigation of an alarm, from a release detection method required under 18 AAC 78.060 indicate a release may have occurred unless(A) the monitoring device is found to be defective and is immediately repaired, recalibrated, or replaced, and additional monitoring does not confirm the initial result;(B) in the case of inventory control described in 18 AAC 78.065(b), a second month of data does not confirm the initial result or the investigation determines that no release has occurred;(C) the leak is contained in the secondary containment and (i) except as provided for in 18 AAC 78.065(h)(2)(B)(iv), any liquid in the interstitial space is immediately removed; however, liquid used as part of the interstitial monitoring system, such as a system that uses a brine-filled interstitial space, need not be removed; and(ii) any defective system equipment or component is immediately repaired or replaced; or(D) the alarm was investigated and determined to be a non-release event, such as a power surge or a result of filling the tank during release detection testing.(b) The department will, in its discretion, require the owner or operator of a UST system to investigate for a release of petroleum as required by 18 AAC 78.210 to determine if a UST is the source of off-site impacts. For purposes of this subsection, "off-site impacts" include the discovery of free product, soil contamination, surface water or groundwater contamination, or the presence of vapors in soils, basements, sewer and utility lines, or nearby surface water or groundwater as directly observed by the department or brought to the department's attention by another person.Eff. 3/25/91, Register 118; am 11/3/95, Register 136; am 1/30/2003, Register 165; am 9/27/2018,Register 227, October 2018Authority:AS 46.03.020
AS 46.03.365