Kansas Storage Tank Act: Registration, Compliance, and Penalties

The Kansas Storage Tank Act, codified at K.S.A. 65-34,100 through 65-34,124, requires owners of underground and aboveground petroleum storage tanks to register with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), use trained operators, maintain release detection and financial responsibility, report leaks within 24 hours, and close tanks under KDHE supervision. Violations carry civil penalties of up to $10,000 per day, Class A misdemeanor charges for the most serious conduct, and loss of eligibility for the state trust fund that otherwise pays for cleanup.

Which Tanks the Act Covers

The act reaches both underground storage tanks (USTs) and aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) that hold regulated substances such as petroleum. K.S.A. 65-34,103 exempts several categories, and if your tank sits in one of them, most of the registration, permitting, and financial responsibility rules do not apply to you.¹ The common exemptions are:

Farm or residential tanks of 1,100 gallons or less used to store motor fuel for noncommercial purposes
Heating oil tanks used for consumptive heating on a single-family residence
Aboveground tanks under 660 gallons
Tanks tied to oil and gas production or gathering operations
Aboveground tanks at petroleum refineries
Agricultural material tanks regulated by the Kansas Department of Agriculture
Pipeline facilities regulated under federal pipeline safety law
Surface impoundments, septic tanks, lagoons, and flow-through process tanks

Exemption from the act does not erase environmental liability. If an exempt tank releases product that contaminates soil or groundwater, the owner can still face cleanup obligations under other authorities.

Registering a Tank With KDHE

Under K.S.A. 65-34,104, every owner of a regulated tank must notify KDHE of the tank’s age, size, type, location, associated equipment, and use.² For USTs, the registration form carries a nonrefundable fee of $20 per tank. The form must be submitted within seven days of either bringing a tank into use or taking ownership of an existing tank. Missing that window triggers a $50 late penalty per tank.³

Operator Training and Certification

Anyone working at a UST facility in Kansas must be trained and certified in one of three operator classes. Training is free for Kansas UST owners and operators, and certification runs on a four-year renewal cycle.⁴

Class A operators are owners or upper-level managers who obtain the operating permit from KDHE and work with licensed contractors on installation, repair, and upgrades.
Class B operators are on-site managers at retail fuel stations or bulk plants who handle monthly and daily release detection reporting and inventory control.
Class C operators are front-line employees, such as convenience store clerks, who may assist with daily release detection and are often first to notice a problem at the dispenser.

Operators who stay in the same role take refresher training every four years. KDHE can also require retraining when it finds a facility operating without permits or out of compliance with state and federal rules.⁴

Day-to-Day Compliance

Underground tanks must have corrosion protection (typically cathodic protection) and be built of materials compatible with what they store. Release detection equipment, including automatic tank gauging systems, probes, sensors, and automatic line leak detectors, has to be tested at least once a year and within 30 days of any repair.⁵

Spill prevention equipment and overfill devices (automatic shutoffs, ball float valves, or overfill alarms) must be tested at least every three years and within 30 days of repair. Containment sumps used for interstitial monitoring of piping follow the same three-year cycle.⁵

Daily visual inspections check for puddles, active leaks, and worn hoses. Some walkthrough tasks are required monthly (no more than 30 days apart) and others annually. Falling behind on any of these schedules is one of the most common compliance failures and can jeopardize your access to the state trust fund.⁵

Secondary Containment for Newer Tanks

Any UST or connected piping installed or replaced on or after July 1, 2013, must be secondarily contained and monitored for leaks through interstitial monitoring. K.S.A. 65-34,138 requires the containment system to hold any released substance until it is detected and removed, and to prevent releases to the environment throughout the tank’s operational life.⁶

Replacement of secondarily contained piping must also include containment of the submersible pump. The requirement does not apply to safe suction piping or to repairs that restore existing equipment to operating condition. New motor fuel dispenser systems installed after June 30, 2013, need under-dispenser spill containment that is liquid-tight, compatible with the fuel conveyed, and designed to permit visual inspection or leak monitoring.⁶

Reporting a Release

Suspected or confirmed releases must be reported to KDHE within 24 hours.⁷ Kansas regulations treat any loss from a buried tank system, and the discovery of product or fuel odors in groundwater, sewers, or building basements, as reportable events.⁸

Spills of 25 gallons or more, or spills that produce a visible sheen on water, go to the KDHE spill hotline at 785-296-1679. Smaller releases are reported to the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Unit at 785-296-6768 or to the appropriate KDHE district office.⁷ Knowingly failing to report a release is a criminal offense under the act.

Financial Responsibility

K.S.A. 65-34,107 requires every UST owner or operator to show evidence of financial responsibility. Acceptable mechanisms include insurance, a guarantee, a surety bond, a letter of credit, qualified self-insurance, or any other method satisfactory to the secretary.² The coverage has to be enough to pay for corrective action, including cleanup and land restoration, and for third-party claims for bodily injury or property damage caused by a release.

Federal regulations at 40 CFR Part 280 set the minimum coverage amounts Kansas owners have to meet. Petroleum marketers, producers, and refiners need at least $1 million per occurrence and $1 million in annual aggregate coverage, or $2 million aggregate for owners with more than 100 tanks. Nonmarketers with monthly throughput over 10,000 gallons need $1 million per occurrence and $1 million aggregate; those below that threshold need $500,000 per occurrence and $1 million aggregate. Failing to maintain financial responsibility carries a separate fine of $500 per UST.⁹

Trust Fund Reimbursement for Cleanup

Kansas maintains trust funds that reimburse eligible tank owners for reasonable cleanup costs after a petroleum release. Private businesses, local governments, and state entities that own or operate petroleum tanks can qualify if the contamination was discovered on or after December 22, 1988. Owners of farm or residential tanks of 1,100 gallons or less and heating oil tanks at single-family residences may also qualify.⁹

The fund will not pay the federal government, refiners or producers who meet federal self-insurance criteria, anyone who knowingly allowed a release or refused to cooperate in corrective action, or owners of tanks at pipeline facilities.⁹

Coverage runs up to $2 million per release, less a deductible of $3,000 plus $500 for every tank at the site (above and below ground combined). Owners with fewer than 100 tanks are capped at $1 million in total annual assistance across all sites; those with more than 100 tanks can draw up to $2 million annually.⁹

Getting paid is not automatic. All costs must be pre-approved in writing by KDHE Fund staff before work begins. Three bids for remedial work must be obtained and approved in writing before the work is done, though KDHE offers a bid assistance program. The applicant has to sign a consent agreement with KDHE, and the fund will not reimburse costs already covered by insurance or warranties. Every regulated tank at the site must be registered and compliant with inventory control, release detection, and release reporting requirements. Owners found out of compliance at the time of fund approval will face fines on top of losing some reimbursement.⁹

Closing or Removing a Tank

KDHE must be notified at least 30 days before a tank is permanently closed or changed in service, unless the closure is part of an ongoing corrective action. Owners choose between removing the tank or abandoning it in place by filling it with inert material. Both approaches require liquids and sludges to be removed first and a site assessment performed afterward. For tank removals, KDHE field staff may conduct the site assessment at no cost if given adequate notice. Abandonment in place requires a Phase II site assessment by a hired environmental professional. A licensed contractor must do the work and submit the permanent-tank-abandonment form to KDHE within 15 days of closing the tank.⁷

If the assessment finds contaminated soil or groundwater, or free product as liquid or vapor, corrective action is required. Closure records, including site assessment results and contractor documentation, must be kept for at least three years. KDHE recommends five, and keeping them permanently helps protect against liability if the property later changes hands.⁷

Penalties for Violations

Under K.S.A. 65-34,113, a violator can be assessed a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation. Each day a continuing violation persists counts as a separate violation, so fines stack quickly. The director of KDHE’s Division of Environment issues penalties by written order and must set each one high enough to act as a real economic deterrent.¹⁰

Anyone served with a penalty order has 15 days to request a hearing before the secretary. Beyond money, the secretary can order a facility to cease operations, direct corrective action, and require property owners to let KDHE personnel or contractors onto their land to monitor or remediate a release.¹⁰

K.S.A. 65-34,109 lists criminal violations: operating a tank without a required permit, making false statements in compliance documents, destroying or concealing required records, and knowingly allowing or failing to report a release. Each is a Class A misdemeanor. It is also unlawful to prevent or hinder a KDHE employee from entering, inspecting, or sampling at a facility where a storage tank is located.²

1
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 65-34,103 – Exemptions
2
Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Kansas Code 65-34 – Kansas Storage Tank Act
3
Legal Information Institute. Kan. Admin. Regs. 28-44-17 – Underground Storage Tank Registration
4
Kansas Department of Health and Environment. UST Operator Training
5
Kansas Small Business Environmental Assistance Program. Underground Storage Tank Compliance Calendar
6
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 65-34,138 – Underground Storage Tank Systems; Secondary Containment
7
Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Kansas Underground Storage Tank Manual
8
Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Information for Owners and Operators – Section: Reporting Requirements for Underground Storage Tank Releases
9
Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Storage Tank Trust Funds
10
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 65-34,113 – Civil Penalties and Remedies for Violations