The legislature finds that leaking underground storage tanks containing petroleum and other regulated substances pose a serious threat to human health and the environment. To address this threat, the legislature intends for the department of ecology to establish an underground storage tank program designed, operated, and enforced in a manner that, at a minimum, meets the requirements for delegation of the federal underground storage tank program of the resource conservation and recovery act of 1976, as amended (42 U.S.C. Sec. 6901, et seq.). The legislature intends that statewide requirements for underground storage tanks adopted by the department be consistent with and no less stringent than the requirements in the federal regulations and the underground storage tank compliance act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 15801 et seq., energy policy act of 2005, P.L. 109-58, Title XV, subtitle B).

The legislature further finds that certain areas of the state possess physical characteristics that make them especially vulnerable to threats from leaking underground storage tanks and that in these environmentally sensitive areas, local requirements more stringent than the statewide requirements may apply.

Sunset Act application: See note following chapter digest.