Tank Closure Guidance

Interim Tank Closure

Overview

Specific rules governing the permanent closure of a regulated AST is promulgated in WV State Rule Title 47 Series 63. Please refer to Subsection 11.3 - Permanent Closure of Regulated AST Systems.

An owner or operator who plans to permanently close an AST system must notify the WVDEP Secretary, in writing, and provide a written closure plan at least 30 days prior to beginning the closure, unless the action is in response to a corrective action ordered by the Secretary.

To permanently close a regulated AST system, the owner or operator must empty and clean the AST, piping, and any associated equipment by removing all liquids and accumulated residues. The Tanks Program has developed guidance, a closure plan form, a closure report form, and analytical spreadsheets to assist the regulated community in performing tank closures. Due to the prevalence of petroleum related ASTs, the closure guidance documents were developed around those types of ASTs. However, the closure guidance, the closure plan, and closure report can and must be utilized for all ASTs. The Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 analytical spreadsheets shall be used where applicable; however, the constituents on the spreadsheets are limited. Therefore, until such time as DEP develops additional analytical tables, the owner/operator performs the closure should create their own table for the closure report if a DEP approved table is not available. The table at a minimum must show the constituent sampled, the units for the analytical data, the standard to which the data is being compared, the sample name, sample date, sample depth, and the concentration of the sample.

See Appendix B and Appendix D of the Corrective Action Guidance Document (CAGD) for forms, analytical tables, and the closure guidance memo for AST closures.

Required Documents

You will need the following documents which are available from the Corrective Action Guidance Document (CAGD) page:

  • Appendix D-1 Closure Form Summary
  • Appendix D-5 AST/LAST Closure Guidance Memo
  • Appendix D-6 AST Closure Plan Template
  • Appendix D-6.1 AST Closure Plan Spreadsheet
  • Appendix D-7 AST Closure Report
  • Appendix B-4 Tier 1 Spreadsheet
  • Appendix B-5 Tier 2 Spreadsheet
  • Appendix B-6 Tier 3 Spreadsheet

Final Closure Report

Once the closure activities are completed, a final closure report must be submitted to WVDEP at dep.ast@wv.gov using the WVDEP approved closure report form. Upon receipt of the final closure report, WVDEP will update the status of the closed tanks to permanently out of service (POS).

ASTs that have underwent permanent closure may be brought back into service; however, when these tanks are brought back into service it will be considered a “new install”. All requirements for new installs will apply to permanently out of service (POS) tanks being brought back into service.


Contact Us

West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
Division of Water & Waste: Environmental Enforcement: Tanks Unit
601 57th Street SE
Charleston, WV 25304


Additional Information

  • Permanent Closure vs. Empty and Held in Inventory Guidance

    A tank that is “Currently in Use” (CIU) cannot have its status changed to “Empty and Held In Inventory” even if it has been emptied and disconnected in a manner that will prohibit it from receiving, storing or delivering liquids.

  • Relocation of Stationary Regulated ASTs

    This guidance applies to regulated level 1 ASTs located within a ZCC with a capacity of 210 barrels (8,820) gallons or less that are being relocated no more than 1,000 feet from their original location. This interpretation / guidance only applies to ASTs containing brine water or other fluids produced in connection with hydrocarbon production activities. Closure activities must be performed by a qualified person as defined in §47CSR63-2.51.

  • Relocation of Mobile Regulated ASTs

    This guidance applies to regulated (level 1 and level 2) mobile tanks that have been at a facility for three hundred sixty-five (365) or more days with a capacity of five thousand (5,000) gallons or less which store refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, kerosene, oil, hydraulic fluid etc. ​

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