Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 81-15,119

Current with changes through the 2024 First Special Legislative Session

Section 81-15,119 - Terms, defined

For purposes of the Petroleum Products and Hazardous Substances Storage and Handling Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) Operator shall mean any person in control of, or having responsibility for, the daily operation of a tank but shall not include a person described in subdivision (2)(b) of this section;

(2)

(a) Owner shall mean:

(i) In the case of a tank in use on July 17, 1986, or brought into use after such date, any person who owns a tank used for the storage or dispensing of regulated substances; and

(ii) In the case of any tank in use before July 17, 1986, but no longer in use on such date, any person who owned such tank immediately before the discontinuation of its use.

(b) Owner shall not include a person who, without participating in the management of a tank and otherwise not engaged in petroleum production, refining, and marketing:

(i) Holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect his or her security interest in a tank or a lienhold interest in the property on or within which a tank is or was located; or

(ii) Acquires ownership of a tank or the property on or within which a tank is or was located:

(A) Pursuant to a foreclosure of a security interest in the tank or of a lienhold interest in the property; or

(B) If the tank or the property was security for an extension of credit previously contracted, pursuant to a sale under judgment or decree, pursuant to a conveyance under a power of sale contained within a trust deed or from a trustee, or pursuant to an assignment or deed in lieu of foreclosure.

(c) Ownership of a tank or the property on or within which a tank is or was located shall not be acquired by a voidable transfer, as provided in the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act;

(3) Permanent abandonment shall mean that a tank has been taken permanently out of service as a storage vessel for any reason or has not been used for active storage for more than one year;

(4) Person shall mean any individual, firm, joint venture, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, association, political subdivision, cooperative association, or joint-stock association and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof owning or operating a tank;

(5) Petroleum product shall mean any petroleum product, including, but not limited to, petroleum-based motor or vehicle fuels, gasoline, kerosene, and other products used for the purposes of generating power, lubrication, illumination, heating, or cleaning, but shall not include propane or liquefied natural gas;

(6) Regulated substance shall mean any petroleum product and any substance defined in section 101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as such act existed on May 31, 2001, but not including any substance regulated as a hazardous waste under subtitle C of such act;

(7) Release shall mean any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching, or disposing from a tank or any overfilling of a tank into ground water, surface water, or subsurface soils;

(8) Remedial action shall mean any immediate or long-term response to a release or suspected release in accordance with rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the department or the State Fire Marshal, including tank testing only in conjunction with a release or suspected release, site investigation, site assessment, cleanup, restoration, mitigation, and any other action which is reasonable and necessary;

(9) Risk-based corrective action shall mean an approach to petroleum release corrective actions in which exposure and risk assessment practices, including appropriate consideration of natural attenuation, are integrated with traditional corrective actions to ensure that appropriate and cost-effective remedies are selected that are protective of human health and the environment;

(10) Tank shall mean any tank or combination of tanks, including underground pipes connected to such tank or tanks, which is used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances and the volume of which is ten percent or more beneath the surface of the ground. Tank shall not include any:

(a) Farm or residential tank of one thousand one hundred gallons or less capacity used for storing motor fuel for consumptive use on the premises where stored, subject to a one-time fee;

(b) Tank with a storage capacity of one thousand one hundred gallons or less used for storing heating oil for consumptive use on the premises where stored, subject to a one-time fee;

(c) Septic tank;

(d) Tank situated in an underground area such as a basement, cellar, mineworking, drift, shaft, or tunnel if the tank is situated on or above the surface of the floor;

(e) Pipeline facility, including gathering lines:

(i) Defined under 49 U.S.C. 60101, as such section existed on May 31, 2001; or

(ii) Which is an intrastate pipeline regulated under state law comparable to the law prescribed in subdivision (e)(i) of this subdivision;

(f) Surface impoundment, pit, pond, or lagoon;

(g) Flow-through process tank;

(h) Liquid trap or associated gathering lines directly related to oil or gas production and gathering operations; or

(i) Storm water or wastewater collection system; and

(11) Temporary abandonment shall mean that a tank will be or has been out of service for at least one hundred eighty days but not more than one year.

Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 81-15,119

Laws 1986, LB 217, § 3; Laws 1987, LB 365, § 1; Laws 1989, LB 289, § 32; Laws 1991, LB 409, § 22; Laws 1993, LB 121, § 542; Laws 1996, LB 1226, § 15; Laws 1998, LB 1161, § 40; Laws 2001, LB 461, § 11; Laws 2019, LB 70, § 18.

Amended by Laws 2019, LB 70,§ 18, eff. 9/1/2019.