(a) Owners or operators of petroleum underground storage tanks
(USTs) must demonstrate financial assurance for taking corrective action and
for compensating third parties for bodily injury and property damage caused
by accidental releases arising from the operation of petroleum USTs in at
least the following per-occurrence amounts:
(1) for owners or operators of petroleum USTs that are located
at petroleum marketing facilities, or that handle an average of more than
10,000 gallons of petroleum per month based on annual throughput for the previous
calendar year, $1 million; or
(2) for all other owners or operators of petroleum USTs; $500,000.
(b) Owners or operators of petroleum USTs must demonstrate
financial assurance for taking corrective action and for compensating third
parties for bodily injury and property damage caused by accidental releases
arising from the operation of petroleum USTs in at least the following annual
aggregate amounts:
(1) for owners or operators of 1 to 100 petroleum USTs within
the United States, $1 million; and
(2) for owners or operators of 101 or more petroleum USTs within
the United States, $2 million.
(c) For the purposes of subsections (b) and (f) of this section
only, petroleum UST means a single containment unit and does not mean combinations
of single containment units.
(d) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, the
amount of assurance provided by each mechanism or combination of mechanisms
must be in the full amount specified in subsections (a) and (b) of this section,
if the owner or operator uses separate mechanisms or separate combinations
of mechanisms to demonstrate financial assurance for:
(1) taking corrective action;
(2) compensating third parties for bodily injury and property
damage caused by sudden accidental releases; or
(3) compensating third parties for bodily injury and property
damage caused by nonsudden accidental releases.
(e) If the owner or operator uses separate mechanisms or separate
combinations of mechanisms to demonstrate financial assurance for different
petroleum USTs, the annual aggregate required shall be based on the number
of tanks covered by each separate mechanism or combination of mechanisms.
(f) Owners or operators shall review the amount of aggregate
financial assurance provided whenever additional petroleum USTs are acquired
or installed. If the number of petroleum USTs within the United States owned
or operated by that person for which financial assurance must be provided
exceeds 100, the owner or operator shall demonstrate financial assurance in
the amount of at least $2 million of annual aggregate by the anniversary of
the date on which the mechanism demonstrating financial assurance became effective.
If financial assurance is being demonstrated by a combination of mechanisms,
the owner or operator shall demonstrate financial assurance in the amount
of at least $2 million of annual aggregate by the first-occurring effective
date anniversary of any one of the mechanisms combined (other than a financial
test or guarantee) to provide financial assurance.
(g) The amounts of financial assurance required under this
section exclude legal defense costs.
(h) The required per-occurrence and annual aggregate coverage
amounts do not in any way limit the liability of the owner or operator.
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