Title
Receive report from EAA staff on the compliance status of aboveground storage tank system facilities located on the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.
Body
STAFF RECOMMENDED MOTION:
This item is for discussion purposes only. No action required.
SUMMARY:
The purpose of this agenda item is for the Permits/Enforcement Committee to receive a report from EAA staff regarding the requirements and prohibitions for aboveground storage tank (AST) systems subject to EAA regulations. As outlined in ยง 713.605 (c) of the EAA rules, "irrespective of any other provision in these rules, no later than December 31, 2018, the owner or operator of an existing, regulated AST located on the Recharge Zone shall:
(1) incorporate an approved method of secondary containment; or
(2) remove the AST from service."
The Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone (EARZ) has always been recognized as an environmentally sensitive area, and the EAA Board of Directors promulgated rules early in its history to regulate certain activities having the potential for polluting the aquifer in this area in order to protect existing and potential uses of groundwater. In 2002, rules were passed to regulate certain aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) and underground storage tanks (USTs) storing certain regulated materials on the EARZ. These early rules required that regulated AST systems would incorporate a method of tertiary containment, and since these containment requirements would be more stringent than existing regulations, EAA rules allowed owners and operators to register their ASTs with the EAA, and granted additional time to meet these higher levels of protection. (The 2002 rules allowed 15 years from the publishing of those rules for owners to have incorporated a method of approved (tertiary) containment - August 13, 2017).
In December 2016, the EAA board promulged new rules for AST systems that more aligned with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Edwards Aquifer Protection Program (EA...
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