Print copies of the Petroleum Equipment Institute’s Recommended Practices for Overfill Prevention for Shop-Fabricated Aboveground Tanks (PEI/RP600-07) is available for purchase today, Sept. 21, 2007. This latest Recommended Practices document was produced by the Petroleum Equipment Institute’s (PEI) Aboveground Tank Overfill Prevention Committee and is intended to provide a comprehensive reference that consolidates published and unpublished information from equipment manufacturers, installers, tank owners, and regulators concerning proper procedures and equipment to minimize aboveground tank overfill incidents. Printed copies of this 34-page document can be purchased on PEI’s Web site at www.pei.org/rp600 or by contacting PEI by phone. Single copies can be purchased for $40 by PEI members and $95 by non-members.

The recommended practices described in the document are limited to the installation, operation, inspection, maintenance and testing of overfill-prevention equipment used on shop-fabricated, stationary, and atmospheric aboveground tanks intended for the storage or supply of liquid petroleum products and alternative fuels. These recommended practices may be applied to tanks used for: bulk storage; motor-fuels dispensing; emergency-generator systems; residential and commercial heating-oil supply systems; or used-oil storage systems. The information contained in the Recommended Practices for Overfill Prevention for Shop-Fabricated Aboveground Tanks document has been assembled from several sources provided by equipment manufacturers, installers and end-users.

The transfer of large quantities of fuel into aboveground storage tanks usually involves a variety of pumps, pipes, valves and controls. The configuration of this equipment is very often unique to each storage-tank facility. Typically, the only person on site to manage the fuel transfer operation is the tank-vehicle driver. The lack of industry standards for fuel-transfer procedures and equipment and the reliance on a minimum number of personnel to execute the fuel transfer pose significant challenges to reducing the occurrence of overfill incidents.

PEI has produced this document as an industry service. The intent of the recommended practices is to prevent loss of life; protect the environment; promote best practices for safely transferring fuel into tanks; prevent tank overfills; prevent damage to property resulting from overfills; and minimize costs from cleanups and remediation. The recommended practices described in the document represent a synthesis of industry procedures, manufacturers’ recommendations and regulatory standards relating to overfill prevention for shop-fabricated aboveground storage tanks. 

The practices are the consensus recommendations of the PEI Aboveground Tank Overfill Prevention Committee. The Committee is made up of representatives from petroleum-marketing, equipment-manufacturing, service and installation contracting companies, as well as regulatory agencies. The Committee includes:

Serving as consultant to the committee was Marcel Moreau, P.O.E., Marcel Moreau Associates, Portland, ME.

For additional information on PEI or its membership, please contact Tena Wooldridge or visit www.pei.org. The PEI logo is a registered trademark of the Petroleum Equipment Institute.

PEI is the international trade association for distributors, manufacturers and installers of equipment used in petroleum-marketing and liquid-handling operations. Users of the equipment include service station and convenience-store owners, terminals, bulk plants and airport refueling operations. PEI is comprised of more than 1,661 companies engaged in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in petroleum marketing operations. Members are located in 50 states and 81 countries. The Institute's headquarters are located in Tulsa, Oklahoma.