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Dear PEI Member:

The Petroleum Equipment Institute has published a new document entitled Recommended Practices for Installation of Bulk Storage Plants (PEI/RP800-08). This document fills the need for a comprehensive reference guide that the industry and regulators can use to maximize system efficiency, prevent surface and groundwater contamination, and minimize environmental and safety hazards.

We believe that this is the first document to ever address the installation of bulk plants. The recommended practices apply to underground, aboveground, atmospheric, and shop-fabricated tanks, associated piping, diking, spill containment, and equipment intended for the bulk storage and transfer of petroleum, biofuels, and related products to and from wheeled delivery-vehicle tanks. They apply to single- and double-walled horizontal and vertical tanks, as well as insulated and fire-protected (resistant) tanks. Piping associated with the tanks covered in the recommended practices may be underground, aboveground, or a combination of the two.

The document, which was 18 months in the making, was written by the PEI Bulk Plant Installation Committee: Terry D. Cooper (chairman), Acterra Group; Georges Boyazis, Innovative Petroleum Products; A. Roy Creley, Lakes Region Environmental Contractors; Wayne Geyer, Steel Tank Institute; Mark Lipa, Neumayer Equipment Company; Dave MacDonald, Prevent-A-Spill; Bill Morgan, Collins Equipment Corporation; Charlene Numrych, Liquid Controls; Brian Savage, Savage Associates, Inc.; John Steward, Blackmer - A Dover Company; and Rick Zillig, Morrison Bros. Co.

If you build bulk plants, you should have a copy of this document. We urge you not to use the draft mailed in November of 2007 since public comments to that draft resulted in significant changes to the document. PEI/RP800-08 is copyrighted and may not be photocopied or otherwise reproduced. Order online ($40 for members; $95 for nonmembers) at www.pei.org/rp800 or request an order form by calling PEI at 918-494-9696. The order form can also be downloaded at the above address.
 

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For nearly 25 years, significant progress has been made in preventing, detecting, and cleaning up petroleum leaks from USTs. The UST population has been reduced from over 2 million to 630,00 over that period of time. But despite that vast reduction in numbers, an average of 9,000 new leaks are found each year and 110,000 old leaks have yet to be cleaned up.

EPA cites the lack of proper operation and maintenance of UST systems as a main cause of these new releases. With only 63 percent of the facilities having achieved "significant operational compliance"—defined as having the necessary equipment required by current regulations to prevent and detect releases and performing the necessary UST system operation and maintenance—it is clear that the problem of leaking UST systems is not going to go away.

The Energy Act of 2005 will help some. The tank release prevention programs are becoming stronger with mandatory inspections, owner-operator training, tag-out systems at non-complying facilities, and secondary containment mandates.

Let's look back to 1984 when President Reagan signed the UST Act and think about what has changed in the last 25 years. The equipment? It has been greatly improved, but it is not perfect and cannot be expected to last forever when subjected to the adverse conditions of today's UST environment. The installers? Again, great progress has been made in that regard, but we still are not batting 1,000, and we never will. The facility owners/operators? Billions of dollars have been spent, tremendous strides have been made, but still less than two-thirds have achieved significant operational compliance.

So I found myself agreeing that UST regulators can have a job for life if they want it. And so can PEI members who do that sort of work. The challenges and opportunities for our industry presented by UST systems will always be with us.         

COMMENT DEADLINE FOR RP200 REVISION IS APRIL 30
The PEI Aboveground Tank Installation Committee is accepting suggestions and recommendations for revisions to PEI's Recommended Practices for Installation of Aboveground Storage Systems for Motor Vehicle Fueling (PEI/RP200-03). Any interested party can comment and offer changes to the document online or download a form to mail or fax at www.pei.org/RP200. Instructions for completing the form are also available on our website. All comments must be received at PEI by Wednesday, April 30, 2008, to be considered by the committee. If you have any questions or need further information, contact Bob Young (byoung@pei.org) or call 918-494-9696.

CORRECTION/AMPLIFICATION
The U.S. EPA issued a new air toxics standards for smaller emitting (area) sources in a final rule issued January 10, 2008. The rule required vapor controls at area sources that distribute and store gasoline, including bulk plants and terminals, pipeline facilities, and gasoline dispensing facilities. We wrote about the rule in the January 4, 2008, TulsaLetter.

We wrote in that newsletter that the owner or operator of a new area source must comply with the final rules when they are published in the Federal Register (January 10, 2008) or upon initial startup, which ever is later. We went on to say that the owner of an existing area source must comply with all of the requirements within three years of final rule publication. All of that information was correct.

Many of us in the industry assumed that "existing" area sources would be those that existed on the date the rules became final and that "new" area sources would be those that started up sometime after the rules were finalized, i.e., January 10, 2008. That is where we made our mistake. The rule defines a new area source as one that commenced construction after November 9, 2006, and not when the rule was finalized. In other words, if a retail gasoline dispensing facility, built after November 9, 2006, has a throughput of 100,000 gallons or more of gasoline per month, it must already have Stage I vapor recovery. That facility must comply immediately.

The rule doesn't make sense to us, but when it comes to regulations, it evidently doesn't have to make sense. We don't know how many stations were built between November 9, 2006, and January 10, 2008, that dispense over 100,00 gallons per month that were not equipped with Stage I at startup. We suspect only a few. If you know of any, please pass this information along to them. 

NACS RELEASES 2007 INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE DATA
Data released by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) shows that the convenience store industry sells an estimated 80 percent of the fuels purchased in the United States, and motor fuels continue to dominate industry revenues, comprising 70.8 percent of the industry's sales. Low gasoline margins meant that motor fuels contributed only 33.8 percent of the industry's gross profit dollars, according to NACS.
Since 2000, the number of one-store operators has grown 51 percent, from 59,876 stores to 90,683 stores, as major oil companies continue to "divest their retail assets and operators sell off underperforming stores, frequently to new entrants who often initially lack experience and resources." Today, NACS says, major oil companies own and operate less than three percent of convenience stores selling motor fuels.

MINNESOTA'S NEW UST RULES
New rules for underground storage tanks in Minnesota became effective on March 24, 2008. The extensive changes cover secondary containment, corrosion protection, internal lining inspections, impressed current systems testing, release detection, sump inspection, temporary and permanent closure, and notification. Read about the new requirements here.

AWARDS AND CELEBRATIONS
RDM Industrial Electronics, Inc., Nebo, North Carolina, and Lakewood, Colorado, celebrated its 20th anniversary on February 19.
Fiber Glass Systems, Little Rock, Arkansas, presented the following awards recently based on 2007 performance. Rep of the Year: Jack Pittman & Associates. Top 5 Distributors: ANS Distributing, Commercial Petroleum Equipment, John W. Kennedy Company, Northwest Pump, and Source North America. Outstanding International Distributors: Corporativo Petrogas S.A. de C.V.; Equigas Y Equipos de Lubricacion S.A. de C.V.; and LBL Trading Co., Ltd.
Excell Fueling Systems, Austin, Texas, was among 12 national finalists for Contractor of the Year 2008, sponsored by trade magazine Equipment World and construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc. Rick and Susan Rollins, owners of Excell Fueling Systems, attended the awards banquet last month in Las Vegas.

PEI MEMBER NOTES
W. W. Barnhart Company, Paris, Illinois, has been purchased by Thomas B. Jackson, Jr., who will serve as company president. Other key staff members include Thomas B. Jackson III, corporate vice president; Janie Martin, vice president, operations; and Marsha S. Thomey, comptroller.
Dover Corporation has announced the establishment of its Pump Solutions Group (PSG). Members of the Group include Blackmer, Wilden, Griswold and Almatec. Sales total over $300 million. PSG's president is John D. Allen.
Hose Master, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, has appointed Red Leonard Associates, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, to represent the company in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Red Leonard currently represents the company in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania.
Butler Capital Corporation, Hunt Valley, Maryland, has announced that Janie Husein has joined the company as a financing specialist. She will be based in the company's Atlanta office.
Gary Bevers, publisher at National Petroleum News since 2005, announced last month that he is leaving the magazine to focus on his consulting firm, Bevers & Co. He can be reached at gbevers@beversco.com.

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS
Florida environmental contractor. Herrington Bradley Construction, Inc., 5190 N.W. 167th Street, Suite 102, Miami Gardens, Florida 33014, has applied for service and construction division membership. Clarence L. Herrington is president of the firm, which was established in 1997. The company is a general and environmental contractor. Sponsored for PEI membership by Glen Corkill, SourceIL, Addison, IL.
Florida installation and service firm. Surge Solutions Group, Inc., 5707 South Dixie Highway, Suite B, West Palm Beach, Florida 33405, has applied for service and construction division membership in PEI. Ryan Seddon is president and CEO of the firm, which was established in 2001. The company is a turnkey contractor specializing in new station construction, UST and AST upgrades, and renovations. Sponsored for PEI membership by David D. Russell, TankTech, Blodgett, MO. 
Virginia service and construction firm. Peters Petro Services, Inc., 2698 Ridgeview Road, Reva, Virginia 22735, has applied for membership in PEI's service and construction division. David K. Peters is president of the firm, which was established in 2007. The company offers equipment service and maintenance to dealers and major corporations in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Sponsored for PEI membership by Rod Smith, Freedom, Kennesaw, GA.

ADMITTED TO PEI

• Heartland Marketing & Associates, Inc., Phillipsburg, KS (dis)
• LHB & Associates, Ltd., San Luis Obispo, CA (aff)
• Empaco Equipment Corporation, Richfield, OH (S&C)

©2008
Petroleum Equipment Institute
P. O. Box 2380
Tulsa, OK 74101-2380

The TulsaLetter (ISSN 0193-9467) is published two or three times each month by the Petroleum Equipment Institute. Robert N. Renkes, Executive Vice President, Editor. Opinions expressed are the opinions of the Editor. Basic circulation confined to PEI members.