About the Board

The Ohio Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Release Compensation Board (“the Board”) consists of government and industry representatives and has the primary responsibility of administering the Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Financial Assurance Fund (“the Fund”). The Fund is a source of money derived from mandatory per-tank fees and is available to eligible underground storage tank owners for the reimbursement of petroleum release cleanup costs.

The Board does not issue permits for tank removal, installation, or repair and does not supervise the clean up of releases. Instead, these things are done by the Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations (BUSTR), an agency under the Ohio State Fire Marshal’s authority.

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Upcoming Meetings

Finance Committee Meeting

There will be a Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. at the Board’s office location at 4151 Executive Parkway, Suite 350, Westerville, OH  43081. The committee will be discussing the Board’s investment and collections policies, the Fund’s five-year financial projections, and the annual per-tank fee and deductible amounts for the 2025 program year. The result of these discussions may cause the committee to draft changes to the following rules:

In accordance with the requirements of Chapter 107. of the Ohio Revised Code, all interested parties are invited to attend, and all parties in attendance at that time will have the opportunity to provide comment.

Board Meeting

The next Petroleum UST Release Compensation Board meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, at the Board’s office location at 4151 Executive Parkway, Suite 350, Westerville, OH  43081. The Board meeting will be live streamed via ZOOM. Information on how the public may view the meeting through ZOOM will be provided at a later date.

The 2024 and 2025 calendar years’ Board meeting schedule and minutes from previous meetings are available on the Meetings page. If you wish to be placed on an email list to receive information concerning the meetings, please email info@petroboard.org or call 800-224-4659.

The State of Ohio is a disability inclusion state. We promote access to our meetings, trainings, and events. To request a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please contact the Board’s ADA Coordinator, John Hickey, at 614-752-8963 or jhickey@petroboard.org as soon as possible. Requests made 14 days prior to the event will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the Board will make every effort to meet requests made after that date. Information concerning Disability Inclusion Access is available by clicking here.

Five-Year Rule Review

In accordance with the five-year rule review requirement of section 106.03 of the Revised Code, during the past year, the Board’s Rules Committee, industry representatives, agency stakeholders, and agency staff met and reviewed the Board’s rules to determine whether each rule should be continued without amendment, be amended, or be rescinded. As a result of the review, the Board voted at its March 13, 2024 meeting to amend seven rules and to file 18 rules as no-change rules. The proposed rule actions and the Business Impact Analysis (BIA) can be found here.

Key Claim Filing Information

Click here for email communications issued via listserv addressing the most common deficiencies in the filing of claim reimbursement application.

Recent Developments

  ·  2024 Certificates of Coverage

The 2024 Applications for a Certificate of Coverage are currently being processed. Certificates are printed and mailed weekly. To check the status of your Certificate and verify the receipt of fee payment, visit the Board’s public inquiry web page at www.petroboardinquiry.org. Click here to review the 2024 Addendum to the Certificate of Coverage.

  ·  Per-Tank Fees for 2024
At its November 29, 2023 meeting, the Board voted to maintain fees and deductible amounts at the current levels for the upcoming 2024 program year. The fees will remain at $350 and $550 per-tank for the $55,000 and $11,000 deductible amounts, respectively.

  ·  Rule Amendment

On July 1, 2023, an amendment to the Board’s rule 3737-1-04 became effective. The amendment is to address concerns raised by stakeholders regarding the issuance of a certificate of coverage for a newly installed underground storage tank system and the timeframe for transferring a certificate of coverage to a new responsible person.

Information about the rule amendment is available on the Register of Ohio website.

  ·  Reimbursable Mileage Rate

The Fund’s reimbursable mileage rate is based on the General Services Administration’s privately owned vehicle reimbursable mileage rate in effect at the time of travel. As of January 1, 2024, that rate is $0.67 per mile. The General Services Administration’s mileage rates are available at www.gsa.gov/mileage. 

  ·  Considering Purchasing a Tank?

The Board’s rules require the purchaser of petroleum underground storage tank(s) to pay a $500 per facility transfer fee plus any unpaid fees, including late payment fees, owed for the tank(s). Click here for more information about this rule as well as a list of items to consider before and after purchasing underground tanks.

  ·  Ability to Pay Program

The Board authorized an “Ability to Pay Program” whereby previous owners and/or operators of petroleum USTs experiencing financial difficulty may apply for and receive a determination of their ability to pay delinquent Fund fees. In order to qualify for the program, the responsible person cannot currently own or operate petroleum USTs. If the responsible person is an individual, the responsible person should submit the Individual Ability to Pay Fees application. If the responsible person is a corporation, limited liability company or partnership, submit the Corporate Ability to Pay Fees application.

  ·  Unclaimed Monies

Check out the Board’s unclaimed monies list to see if you are entitled to a refund of fees!

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