Section 176.300  Reporting of Suspected Releases

a)         Owners or operators of USTs shall immediately report to IEMA (from Illinois, 1-800-782-7860; from outside Illinois, 217/782-7860) and follow the procedures in Sections 176.310, 176.320(b) and (c) and 176.350 in any of the following situations:

1)         The discovery by owners, operators, product delivery drivers or others of released regulated substances at the UST site or in the surrounding area (such as the presence of free product or vapors in soils, basements, sewer or utility lines or nearby surface water);

2)         Unusual operating conditions observed by owners or operators (such as the erratic behavior of product dispensing equipment, the sudden loss of product from the UST or an unexplained presence of water in the tank, or liquid in the interstitial space of any secondarily contained systems), unless:

A)        The system equipment or component is found not to be releasing regulated substances to the environment;

B)        Any defective system equipment or component is immediately repaired or replaced; and

C)        For secondarily contained systems, except as provided for in 41 Ill. Adm. Code 175.630(f)(1)(B)(iv), any liquid in the interstitial space not used as part of the interstitial monitoring method (for example, brine filled) is immediately removed;

3)         Monitoring results, including investigation of an alarm, from a release detection method required under 41 Ill. Adm. Code 175.620, 175.630 or 175.640 that indicate a release may have occurred, unless one or more of the following exists:

A)        The monitoring device is found to be defective and is immediately repaired, recalibrated or replaced, and additional monitoring does not confirm the initial result;

B)        The leak is contained in the secondary containment and:

i)          Except as provided for in 41 Ill. Adm. Code 175.630(f)(1)(B)(iv), any liquid in the interstitial space not used as part of the interstitial monitoring method (for example, brine filled) is immediately removed; and

ii)         Any defective system equipment or component is immediately repaired or replaced;

C)        In the case of monthly inventory control, described in 41 Ill. Adm. Code 175.Subpart I, a second month of data does not confirm the initial result or the investigation determines that no release has occurred; or

D)        The alarm was investigated and determined to be a nonrelease event (for example, from a power surge or caused by filling the tank during release detection testing).

b)         In addition to IEMA, the 911 call center shall immediately be called when a suspected release presents a hazard to life, for example, when observations demonstrate the presence of petroleum or hazardous substance vapors in sewers or basements or free product near utility lines, or where a sheen is present on a body of water.

c)         Once a release has been confirmed under the procedures of Section 176.310, the reporting procedures of Section 176.320 shall apply.

d)         Notification of Suspected Release at the Direction of the storage tank safety specialist (STSS) employed by OSFM. The owner, operator or designated representative of the UST must notify IEMA and any other entities required to be notified under Section 176.320 of a suspected release, when directed to do so by the STSS. This is to be done at the time of discovery and the incident number shall be given to the STSS prior to leaving the site.

(Source:  Amended at 42 Ill. Reg. 10621, effective October 13, 2018)