Okla. Stat. tit. 17, § 17-303

As used in the Oklahoma Petroleum Storage Tank Consolidation

Act:

1. "Abandoned system" means a storage tank system which:

a. has been taken permanently out of service as a storage

vessel for any reason or is not intended to be

returned to service,

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 17. Corporation Commission Page 206

b. has been out of service for one (1) year or more prior

to April 21, 1989, or

c. has been rendered permanently unfit for use as

determined by the Commission after notice and hearing;

2. "Administrator" means the person hired by the Director of

the Petroleum Storage Tank Division of the Corporation Commission to

administer the Indemnity Fund;

3. "Administrative application" means an application and notice

of hearing filed by the Director of the Petroleum Storage Tank

Division for a judicial determination of any question regarding the

administration of the regulatory, Indemnity Fund or inspection

program of the Petroleum Storage Tank Division;

4. "Assignment of benefits" means a written directive from the

applicant of record instructing the Commission to pay allowable

costs incurred directly to the named assignee including, but not

limited to, an environmental consultant;

5. "Assignment of rights" or "limited power of attorney" means

a transfer of authority granting the assignee the legal right to act

on grantor's behalf regarding specified matters;

6. "Biodiesel" for the purpose of prescribing specifications

for the quality of biodiesel shall mean a fuel comprised of mono-

alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils

or animal fats, designated as B100, and meeting the requirements of

the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D6751

standards. A biodiesel blend is a blend of biodiesel fuels meeting

the ASTM D6751 standards with a petroleum-based diesel fuel, which

is designated "Bxx", with "xx" representing the volume percentage of

biodiesel fuel in the blend;

7. "Commission" means the Corporation Commission;

8. "Confirmed release" means a level of concentration of

chemicals of concern that may be sufficient to cause adverse effects

upon human health or the environment or cause a nuisance;

9. "Contaminants" or "contamination" means the presence of

Commission-regulated substances in the environment;

10. "Corrective action" means action taken to monitor,

investigate, minimize, eliminate or perform remediation of a release

from a storage tank system;

11. "Director" means the Director of the Petroleum Storage Tank

Division of the Corporation Commission;

12. "Distributor" means:

a. every person importing or causing to be imported into

this state any motor fuel, diesel fuel or blending

material for use, distribution, or sale and

distribution, or sale and delivery after the same

reaches this state. Distributor does not mean persons

importing motor fuel only in the supply tank of a

vehicle originally provided by the manufacturer of the

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 17. Corporation Commission Page 207

motor vehicle as a container for motor fuel or diesel

fuel to propel such motor vehicle, nor does

distributor mean persons only importing motor fuel,

diesel fuel or blending material into the state under

circumstances requiring that they be licensed as

"Motor Fuel/Diesel Fuel Importers for Use" as defined

in paragraph 7 of Section 601 of Title 68 of the

Oklahoma Statutes and who are actually so licensed,

b. any person producing, refining, preparing, distilling,

blending, manufacturing, or compounding motor fuel or

blending material in this state for use, distribution

or sale and delivery in this state,

c. any person within this state producing or collecting

what is commonly known as drip, casinghead or natural

gasoline,

d. any person who has in his or her possession or buys

for sale or use motor fuel, diesel fuel or blending

material from any person other than a licensed

distributor, retailer or dealer,
ding material in this state for use, distribution

or sale and delivery in this state,

c. any person within this state producing or collecting

what is commonly known as drip, casinghead or natural

gasoline,

d. any person who has in his or her possession or buys

for sale or use motor fuel, diesel fuel or blending

material from any person other than a licensed

distributor, retailer or dealer,

e. any person other than a retailer or dealer who sells

motor fuel, diesel fuel or blending material to anyone

except a licensed distributor,

f. any person who makes bulk sales of motor fuel, diesel

fuel or blending material, and

g. any other person, including a retailer or dealer, who

has filed an application for and has procured a

distributor's license in the manner provided by the

Oklahoma Motor Fuel/Diesel Fuel Importers for Use Tax

Code, Section 601 et seq. of Title 68 of the Oklahoma

Statutes;

13. "Division" means the Petroleum Storage Tank Division of the

Corporation Commission;

14. "Eligible person" means:

a. any owner or operator of a storage tank system who has

incurred liability as a result of an eligible release,

and who meets the requirements specified in Section

327.3 of this title,

b. any person who on or after November 8, 1984, purchases

or acquires property by any means on which a storage

tank system is located if:

(1) the storage tank system was located on the

property on November 8, 1984,

(2) such person could not have known that such

storage tank system existed. The burden shall be

upon such purchaser to show that such purchaser

did not know or should not have known of the

existence of such storage tank system,

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 17. Corporation Commission Page 208

(3) the owner or operator of the storage tank system

responsible for the system cannot be determined

by the Corporation Commission or the Indemnity

Fund Administrator, or the owner or operator of

the storage tank system responsible for the

system is incapable, in the judgment of the

Corporation Commission, of properly carrying out

any necessary corrective action taken pursuant to

Section 309 of this title, and

(4) either funds are unavailable from the Oklahoma

Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust (LUST

Trust) Fund or the storage tank system is not

eligible for corrective action taken pursuant to

Section 328 of this title,

c. any person who acquired ownership of a tank system

through inheritance or other means or is responsible

for a release by reason of owning the real property

within which a tank or a release is or was located if:

(1) the storage tank system of the release was

located on the real property on November 8, 1984,

(2) the operator of the storage tank system

responsible for the system or responsible for a

release cannot be determined or found by the

Corporation Commission, or the operator of the

storage tank system responsible for the system or

responsible for the release is incapable, in the

judgment of the Corporation Commission, of

properly carrying out any necessary corrective

action,

(3) either funds are unavailable from the LUST Trust

Fund or the storage tank system or release is not

eligible for corrective action taken pursuant to

Section 328 of this title,

(4) the person did not participate or was not

responsible in any manner, directly or

indirectly, in the management of the storage tank

system or for the release and otherwise is not

engaged in petroleum production, refining or

marketing, and

(5) the person meets the requirements specified in

Section 327.3 of this title, or
for corrective action taken pursuant to

Section 328 of this title,

(4) the person did not participate or was not

responsible in any manner, directly or

indirectly, in the management of the storage tank

system or for the release and otherwise is not

engaged in petroleum production, refining or

marketing, and

(5) the person meets the requirements specified in

Section 327.3 of this title, or

(d) any person who is an impacted party, adjacent owner or

town, city or political subdivision as determined by

the Commission and who willingly submits to the

regulations of the Commission governing petroleum

storage tank system owners, operators or agents;

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 17. Corporation Commission Page 209

15. "Eligible release" means a release of regulated substances

for which allowable costs, as determined by the Indemnity Fund

Administrator, are reimbursable to or on behalf of an eligible

person;

16. "Environment" means any water, water vapor, any land

including land surface or subsurface, atmosphere, fish, wildlife,

biota, domestic animals and all other natural resources;

17. "Environmental consultant" means an individual licensed by

the Commission or an environmental consulting company retaining or

employing a Commission-licensed environmental consultant;

18. "Facility" means any location or part thereof containing

one or more storage tanks or systems;

19. "Impacted party" means an owner whose property has been

impacted by a release from an on-site or off-site petroleum storage

tank system which the impacted person did not own or operate and for

which the impacted person has had no responsibility under Commission

rules. An impacted party may apply for an eligibility determination

for reimbursement from the Indemnity Fund. An impacted party is not

subject to the Indemnity Fund co-pay;

20. "Indemnity Fund" means the Petroleum Storage Tank Indemnity

Fund;

21. "Investigation" means activities taken to identify,

confirm, monitor or delineate the physical extent of a release;

22. "Maintenance level" means the minimum balance of the

Indemnity Fund to be maintained and below which the Indemnity Fund

balance will fall when the balance of the Indemnity Fund is below

the dollar amount of disbursements from the Indemnity Fund for the

payment of claims during the preceding six (6) months plus Five

Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00);

23. "Measuring device" shall mean any and all measuring devices

through or by the use of which regulated substances are sold,

dispensed or delivered to the public or to any person buying any

such substance for any purpose other than resale;

24. "Motor fuel" has the same meaning as the term is defined by

Section 500.3 of Title 68 of the Oklahoma Statutes;

25. "New system" means a storage tank system for which the

installation or upgrade of the system began on or after December 22,

1998. Storage tank systems installed after July 1, 2008, must be

secondarily contained and use interstitial monitoring;

26. "Operator" means any person in control of or having

responsibility for the daily operation of the storage tank system,

whether by lease, contract, or other form of agreement. The term

"operator" also includes a past operator at the time of a release,

tank closure, or a violation of the Oklahoma Petroleum Storage Tank

Consolidation Act or of a rule promulgated thereunder;

27. "Owner" means:

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 17. Corporation Commission Page 210

a. in the case of a storage tank system in use on

November 8, 1984, or brought into use after that date,

any person who holds title to real estate, controls,

or possesses an interest in a storage tank system or

property where a storage tank system is located used

for the storage, use, or dispensing of regulated

substances, or

b. in the case of a storage tank system in use before

November 8, 1984, but no longer in service on that

date, any person who held title to, controlled, or
er that date,

any person who holds title to real estate, controls,

or possesses an interest in a storage tank system or

property where a storage tank system is located used

for the storage, use, or dispensing of regulated

substances, or

b. in the case of a storage tank system in use before

November 8, 1984, but no longer in service on that

date, any person who held title to, controlled, or

possessed an interest in a storage tank system

immediately before the discontinuation of its use.

The term "owner" does not include a person who holds an interest in

a tank system solely for financial security, unless through

foreclosure or other related actions the holder of a security

interest has taken possession of the tank system;

28. "Pay-for-performance" means a process by which an

environmental consultant guarantees, by executing a contract

pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph, that a release of a

regulated substance will be remediated to levels agreed to by the

Commission, the eligible person and the consultant. Such levels

must be protective of human health, safety and the environment. The

performance-based process encompasses several steps including, but

not limited to, the development of a contract signed by an

officer/owner of the environmental consultant, the eligible person

and the Indemnity Fund Administrator. The contract shall contain

any agreed-upon reasonable price for the work to be performed.

Scheduled payments shall be distributed only as performance-based

goals are attained;

29. "Permit" means any registration, permit, license or other

authorization issued by the Commission to operate a storage tank

system;

30. "Person" means any individual, trust, firm, joint stock

company or corporation, limited liability company, partnership,

association, any representative appointed by order of a court, the

state, any municipality, county, school district or other political

subdivision or agency of the state, or any interstate body. The

term also includes a consortium, a joint venture, a commercial

entity, the United States Government, a federal agency, including a

government corporation, or any other legal entity;

31. "Petroleum" means antifreeze, new or used motor oil,

gasoline, kerosene, diesel, aviation fuel or blended fuel including,

but not limited to, gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel that is

blended with biodiesel, ethanol, Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE)

or other additive for purposes of fueling a combustion engine;

32. "Pollution" means contamination or other alteration of the

physical, chemical or biological properties of any natural waters of

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 17. Corporation Commission Page 211

the state, land surfaces or subsurfaces, or atmosphere when such

contamination or alteration will or is likely to create a nuisance

or render the waters, land or atmosphere harmful or detrimental or

injurious to the public health, safety or welfare or the

environment;

33. "Purchase order" means a performance-based agreement

negotiated between an environmental consultant and the Petroleum

Storage Tank Division stipulating a scope of work to be performed by

a target date, for which the Petroleum Storage Tank Indemnity Fund

will reimburse a specified amount;

34. "Regulated substance" means petroleum which is regulated

pursuant to the Oklahoma Petroleum Storage Tank Consolidation Act;

35. "Reimbursement" means either:

a. repayment of an approved claim to an eligible person

for allowable costs resulting from an eligible

release, or

b. payment of an approved claim submitted on behalf of an

eligible person for incurred allowable costs resulting

from an eligible release;

36. "Release" means any spilling, overfilling, leaching,

emitting, discharging, escaping, unintentional disposing or leaking

from a storage tank system that goes beyond the excavation zone,

tankpit, or secondary containment into the environment. The term
b. payment of an approved claim submitted on behalf of an

eligible person for incurred allowable costs resulting

from an eligible release;

36. "Release" means any spilling, overfilling, leaching,

emitting, discharging, escaping, unintentional disposing or leaking

from a storage tank system that goes beyond the excavation zone,

tankpit, or secondary containment into the environment. The term

release includes but is not limited to a suspected or confirmed

release of a regulated substance from a storage tank system

identified as a result of sampling, testing or monitoring results,

or identified in any similarly reliable manner;

37. "Remediation" means a process or technique used to reduce

concentration levels of chemicals of concern in the soil and

groundwater, and/or to reduce the presence of free product in the

environment to levels that are protective of human health, safety

and the environment;

38. "Responsible person" means any person that is seeking

corrective action of real property, and submits to the jurisdiction

of the Commission;

39. "Sale" means every gallon of motor fuel, diesel fuel, or

blending materials sold, or stored and distributed, or withdrawn

from storage, within the state, for sale or use. No gallon of motor

fuel, diesel fuel, or blending materials shall be the basis more

than once of the assessment imposed by Section 327.1 of this title;

40. "Storage tank" is a permanent trade fixture and means a

stationary vessel designed to contain an accumulation of regulated

substances. It includes the individual compartments within a

compartmentalized tank, any aboveground or underground connected

piping, and is a trade fixture. A storage tank that has ten percent

(10%) or more of its volume beneath the surface of the ground is

considered an underground storage tank;

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 17. Corporation Commission Page 212

41. "Storage tank system" means a closed-plumbed system

including, but not limited to, the storage tank(s), the individual

storage tank compartments, the lines, the dispenser for a given

product, containment sump, if any, ancillary equipment or a delivery

truck that is connected to the storage tank system;

42. "Synthetic diesel" for the purpose of prescribing

specifications for the quality of synthetic diesel shall mean a

hydrocarbon made up of hydrocarbons that are primarily aliphatic in

character with the number of carbon atoms ranging from C-10 to C-20.

The hydrocarbons are produced from carbon monoxide and hydrogen,

synthesis gas, by passing the synthesis gas over a catalyst under

temperature and pressure, commonly known as the Fischer-Tropsch

process. Synthetic diesel shall meet all ASTM D975 specifications

with or without the use of lubrication additives. A synthetic

diesel blend is a blend of synthetic diesel fuel with a petroleum-

based diesel fuel, which is designated "Sxx", with "xx" representing

the volume percentage of synthetic diesel fuel in the blend;

43. "Tax Commission" means the Oklahoma Tax Commission;

44. "Transporter" means any person who transports, delivers or

distributes any quantity of regulated substance from one point to

another for the purpose of wholesale or retail gain; and

45. "Waters of the state" means all streams, lakes, ponds,

marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, irrigation

systems, drainage systems and all other bodies or accumulations of

water, surface and underground, natural or artificial, public or

private, which are contained within, flow through, or border upon

the State of Oklahoma or any portion thereof.