Regulatory Gap Remains for Chemical Tanks Due to No EPA Spill-Prevention Requirement

摘要

The EPA does not require spill-prevention actions by operators of aboveground chemical storage tanks, a regulatory gap that continues to exist 20 months after a chemical tank spill that led to a 10-day public drinking water ban for 300,000 West Virginians. The Environmental Protection Agency has for decades had clear statutory authority to require spill-prevention actions for the tanks, officials told Bloomberg BNA in 2014 (45 ER 1447, 5/9/14). Also for decades, the EPA has had spill-prevention regulations on aboveground tanks containing petroleum products or hazardous waste. Since the early 1980s, the agency also has had spill-prevention regulations for chemical storage tanks that are underground. According to environmental groups, the absence of an EPA spill-prevention requirement for chemical above-ground tanks puts people and the environment at unnecessary risk.