Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

New Mexico’s Environmental Improvement Board has modified state rules governing ownership and maintenance of above-ground and underground storage tanks throughout the state. The Environment Department said last week that the changes “make the rules more user-friendly” and were designed to “create a more efficient process to address petroleum storage tank contamination.”

Revisions to New Mexico’s storage tank regulations were necessary to comply with federal law, which requires a new section addressing operator training. According to Environmental Protection Division Director Jim Norton, “that part of the regulations will phase in required training of storage tank operators to ensure they understand environmental and emergency response requirements for facilities they operate.”

“The changes will also allow the department’s Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau to more efficiently and effectively administer the Corrective Action Fund,” New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry said in a statement.

Federal regulations required states to implement the laws by August 8 of this year. New Mexico was the 10th state to adopt the revisions.

Curry added that the changes won’t affect the number of cleanups the state agency carries out, but they will make the process of dealing with leaks and contamination easier and faster.

A bill that would prevent the delivery of petroleum to storage tanks not in compliance with New Mexico’s leak prevention regulations will be reintroduced in the state legislature next year. The bill is expected to pass.

According to federal records, New Mexico contains 3,988 active underground storage tanks. There have been 2,524 confirmed leaks statewide. The state has completed 1,852 cleanups and an additional 672 cleanups await completion.

To read the Environment Department’s statement, click here.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 12:45 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.