In the six years since its first appearance, the annual National Institute for Storage Tank Management (NISTM) conference has built up a great deal of momentum. Despite the outbreak of SARS around the world, the Iraqi War, and significantly reduced travel budgets in both the private and governmental sectors, the 2003 NISTM conference enjoyed record attendance figures. Founded in 1988 by Marshall Mott-Smith and Jim DeMartini, the Institute was developed as a non-profit organisation, registered with the Florida Secretary of State, for the purpose of providing education and disseminating information about underground and aboveground storage tanks (USTs and ASTs). Mott-Smith, the administrator of storage tank regulations for the Florida State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), felt there was a need to develop an educational programme focusing on environmental issues associated with storage tanks and pipelines.
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