California Water Boards' Annual Performance Report - Fiscal Year  2018-19 

CLEAN UP: GROUNDWATER

MEASUREMENTS

WHAT THE MEASURE IS SHOWING

The data shows that the Leaking Underground Storage Tank program remains very active, especially in those regions with a higher population density such as Regions 4 and 5. The percentage of cases closed varies for each region ranging from 5 percent to 22 percent of cases being closed during the Fiscal Year (FY 18-19). The number of cases closed exceeded the number of new cases indicating that significant progress is being made; however, statewide the number of active cases remain high.

On May 1, 2012, the State Water Board adopted a Low-Threat Underground Storage Tank Case Closure Policy to improve UST cleanup process efficiency. A benefit of improved efficiency is the preservation of limited resources for mitigation of releases posing a greater threat to human and environmental health.

WHY THIS MEASURE IS IMPORTANT

Leaking underground storage tanks are a significant source of petroleum impacts to groundwater and pose a risk to human health and safety. Measuring the number of active cases, new cases and the number of cases closed is important because it shows the level of activity of the program and the level of resources necessary to handle the workload. Statewide, there are approximately 11,000 underground storage tank cases that are overseen collectively by the Regional Water Boards and Local Agencies. The Regional Water Boards are responsible for overseeing more than one-third of all cases in the State. The cases represented by the data above only include cases managed by the Water Boards and include cases with and without direct impacts to ground or surface waters.

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Data source: GEOTRACKER. Period July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 .
• Unit of Measure: Number of cases.
• Data Definitions: Active Cases: The number of cases overseen by Regional Boards that had an Open status as of June 30, 2019 . Inactive Cases: Cases that have a status of inactive or that had a status of completed - Case closed occurs any time between 7/01/ 2018 and 06/30/ 2019 . New Cases: The number of cases that had a status of Open - Case begin date occur any time between 07/01/ 2018 and 06/30/ 2019 . Cases Closed: The number of cases that had a status of completed - Case closed occurs any time between 07/01/ 2018 and 06/30/ 2019 .
• References:
  The Water Boards' Leaking Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Program
  Public Reports and Data
  FY 17/18 Semi-Annual Agency Status Report

GLOSSARY

Leaking Underground Storage Tanks

Leaking underground storage tanks are a significant source of petroleum impacts to groundwater and a risk to human health and safety. Contamination may impact drinking water aquifers, public or private drinking water wells, and present a risk of exposure to humans through inhalation of vapors. These threats are minimized when UST owners or operators (responsible parties) report a leak to the environment to the local regulatory agency within 24 hours of detection. If a leak occurs, responsible parties or their representative must notify the appropriate Regional Water Quality Control Board or County Agency and submit an unauthorized release form. Site investigation and cleanup (corrective action) costs can only be reimbursed by the Cleanup Fund after the tank release has been reported to the Regional Board or county regulatory agency. Regional Board and many County Agencies are authorized to oversee the investigation and cleanup of UST system releases.

Case Closure

UST site qualifies to receive a "No Further Action" (closure) letter once the owner or operator meets all appropriate corrective action requirements. After this occurs, the county agency or regional board will inform the responsible party in writing that no further work is required.

Low-Threat Underground Storage Tank Case Closure Policy

This policy is a state policy for water quality control and applies to all petroleum UST sites subject to Chapter 6.7 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code and Chapter 16 of Division 3 of Title 23 of the California Code of Regulations.