During the mid 1980’s, it was acknowledged that Florida had a serious threat to its ground water resources from leaking petroleum storage tanks.  Florida relies on groundwater for approximately 92% of its drinking water needs.  Since one gallon of gasoline can potentially contaminate one million gallons of groundwater, it is not difficult to understand the immense threat to the environment and public health.  Based on this threat, the State legislation enacted the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to write and enforce rules that would address the operation, maintenance, installation and closure of underground and aboveground petroleum storage tank systems to protect this resource.  In 1986 the Florida Legislature adopted the State Underground Petroleum Environmental Response (SUPER) Act.  In addition to SUPER Act, a tax on oil and petroleum products developed or imported into the state was instituted.  This tax provides a revenue source to the Inland Protection Trust Fund (IPTF) from which monies are allocated for compliance inspection programs.  County governments are contracted by FDEP to manage a Compliance Program at the local level.  Based on these contracts, an annual inspection program was developed to ensure compliance with Rules 62-761 (underground storage systems) and 62-762 (aboveground storage systems) of the Florida Administrative Code (FAC) developed under SUPER Act.

The Seminole County Petroleum Storage Tank Program was established on April 30, 1991 when the Board of County Commissioners signed the first contract with the FDEP.  Inspections began on May 1, 1991 to ensure compliance with the rules established under the FAC.  This program is part of the Department of Public Safety, Emergency Management Division, Petroleum Storage Tanks Bureau.  The program currently consists of a Chief Inspector and a Lead Inspector supported by the Petroleum Storage Tanks Bureau Program Manager and Senior Staff Assistant.

 
Historically in Seminole County, there have been over 850 regulated petroleum storage tank facilities.  Of these facilities, over 300 have reported discharges (leaks, spills, etc.).  In Seminole County, inspections are conducted annually on all petroleum tanks that are aboveground storage tanks (AST’s) greater than 550 gallons in capacity, underground storage tanks (UST’s) greater than 110 gallons in capacity, all field erected tanks, and mineral acid tanks.  These inspections ensure that the facilities are utilizing appropriate approved pollution prevention equipment and are adhering to tank management practices in accordance with the FDEP rules and guidelines.

The staff takes pride in being able to report a 100% or better inspection rate each year in Seminole County.  This gives us the assurance that petroleum storage tank systems are operating properly and new discharges are kept to a minimum.  The Storage Tank Compliance personnel are County employees representing both the County and FDEP interests.  Because of this joint representation, we do not provide inspections of Seminole County owned facilities in order to minimize any conflicts of interest.  We do assist all government and private industry including Seminole County with technical knowledge regarding petroleum equipment and the Rules.

In addition to the compliance inspections and re-inspections when violations are found, our staff performs three other important compliance functions.  The staff conducts inspections during tank removals and closures to provide assurance that discharges that have occurred during the service life of the tank system are properly detected and reported.  Personnel also inspect the tanks and equipment in order to verify potential sources of discharges.  Inspections are conducted at critical times during the tank installation process to ensure that new tank systems are constructed and installed properly and therefore are less likely to result in a discharge, and to ensure that the FDEP requirements are met.  Discharge inspections are performed whenever owners or operators report suspected or confirmed releases of a petroleum product.  During the discharge inspections, the inspector, with cooperation of the owner-operator attempts to determine the source of the leak or spill, its severity and degree of threat to the environment, to see that appropriate steps are taken to abate and contain the discharge and to repair the damaged components of the system.   

If violations are noted during any inspections, and the local program cannot resolve violations, a case referral is made so that the FDEP can make a penalty assessment along with other enforcement efforts.  The range of penalties can be as high as $10,000 per violation per tank, per day depending on the severity and potential harm to the environment. 

If you have any questions regarding the Seminole County’s Petroleum Compliance Program, please contact Seminole County’s Chief Inspector, at (407) 665-2334.