Above Ground Petroleum Storage Act (APSA) Program

In October 2007, the California Assembly passed Assembly Bill 1130 (Laird), the Above Ground Petroleum Storage Act (APSA). The bill transferred responsibility for the implementation, enforcement, and administration of APSA from the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to local CUPAs.

Your local CUPA is performing APSA inspections if:
  • if the tank facility is subject to the SPCC rule,
  • or has a storage capacity of 1,320 gallons or more of petroleum,
  • or has one or more tanks in underground areas.” 
In addition to the inspection, your CUPA will be asking you to submit for review a Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan. If APSA applies to your business, you’ll either have to update an existing SPCC document or create one. Businesses with aggregate capacities of 10,000 gallons or less will be able to take advantage of simplified SPCC requirements.

If you have tanks in an underground area (TIUGA) please confirm that they are TIUGAs and not underground storage tanks by checking the definition of TIUGA on the State Fire Marshal website. . 

If you do not have an SPCC or would like further information regarding the main elements of the plan, contact your local CUPA or check Office of State Fire Marshal APSA website.  

Tiered Facilities


Tier I facilities are those:
  1. With no more than 10,000 gallons of oil*
  2. With no single container exceeding 5,000 gallons
  3. Which has had no single discharge to navigable waters or adjoining shorelines exceeding 1,000 gallons or no 2 discharges each exceeding 42 gallons within any 12 month period in the prior 3 years
Tier I facilities may self-certify their SPCC plan and may use the US EPA Tier I Qualified SPCC Template (PDF).

Tier II facilities are those:
  1. With no more than 10,000 gallons of oil
  2. A single container exceeding 5,000 gallons
  3. Which has had no single discharge to navigable waters or adjoining shorelines exceeding 1,000 gallons or no 2 discharges each exceeding 42 gallons within any 12 month period in the prior 3 years
Tier II facilities may self-certify their SPCC plan and may use the Tier II qualified SPCC Template (PDF).

SPCC Plans are not allowed  to be uploaded to the CERS website. In CERS select "stored onsite" and your inspector will review the SPCC at the time of your facility inspection.  After an SPCC Plan is completed and the CUPA is notified, what does the tank owner need to do? You can use the APSA Tank Facility Statement to track your inventory.  

Conduct periodic inspections to assure compliance with the SPCC (inspections, tests, and records); if you ever have a spill or leak, implement the notification and containment elements of your SPCC.

*Under this regulation, oil includes petroleum-based products such as gasoline, diesel, lubricating oil, solvents, and waste oil. 100% biodiesel is exempt from APSA requirements, but blends of biodiesel (i.e., less than B100) are not exempt.

More Information


Please visit the Office of the State Fire Marshal website for more information on the APSA program and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website for information on SPCC requirements.
     

Fee Updates


As required by the State, the CUPA program is fee supported and annual program fees will apply. Please read the annual update letter that is sent with the billing in late February for fee updates.  

As mentioned above, the State required electronic reporting of CUPA-regulated sites by January 2013.  You are required to update the CERS annually or you can certify the CERS submittals for 3 years before resubmitting all required elements.  Your local CUPA will add a technology fee to your annual billing to support annual costs of CERS compliant software and training.

The CUPA Fees will increase annually based on the CPI.