UST / LUST Compliance Assistance

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At EPA, our goal is to ensure that UST systems are installed, operated, maintained and closed safely and in compliance with UST regulations to prevent harm to others and the environment. We offer various services to assist UST owners and operators in obtaining and maintaing compliance with federal UST regulations. On this page, you can find information to aid you in day-to-day compliance, in addition to information pertaining to technical assistance inspections and potential leaks. You also can find additional information about various UST operation and maintenance issues, including insurance, release detection, release prevention, installation, change-in-service and closures, by checking out our USTs and Information Resources web pages.

Program Information UST/LUST Home USTs LUSTs Enforcement Information Resources Forms EPA & State Contacts This program is managed by the Groundwater Unit of the Office of Compliance and Enforcement.

Yes, for facilities on Indian Lands, which includes facilities on Indian reservations owned by non-Indians, EPA Inspectors can conduct a technical assistance inspection of your facility to help you achieve and maintain compliance with federal UST regulations. This inspection will be conducted to determine whether your facility is in compliance. If not, the EPA Inspector will identify the areas that are not in compliance, explain applicable UST requirements and assist you in achieving compliance.

For facilities not on Indian Lands, you should check with the appropriate state agency, which may provide you with a technical assistance inspection at your request. You can access your state web site by visiting the State section of our EPA & State Contacts page.

Have You Discovered Something Wrong with Your UST System that May Have Caused a Release to the Environment?

If so, you MUST report it; visit our LUST page to find out notification requirements.

To provide incentives for reporting, we may be able to provide you with assistance to reduce your potential liability.

• The Small Business Compliance Policy (pdf, 43 KB, 18 pages) promotes environmental compliance among small businesses that have 100 or fewer employees by providing incentives to discover, disclose and correct environmental problems. EPA will eliminate or significantly reduce penalties for small businesses that voluntarily discover violations of environmental law and promptly disclose and correct them. The Small Business Compliance Policy Fact Sheet (pdf, 75 KB, 2 pages) summarizes the criteria in the Small Business Compliance Policy and provides EPA Regional contacts. Other resources for small businesses include:
  • EPA's Small Business Gateway
  • EPA's Small Business Ombudsman Home Page
• Businesses with more than 100 employees may be eligible for the Policy on Incentives for Self-Policing, known as the Audit Policy (pdf, 88 KB, 49 pages) , which also provides potential penalty reductions for voluntary discovery and correction of environmental violations. For more information, visit EPA’s Audit Policy web page.
• The Policy on "Flexible State Enforcement Responses to Small Community Violations" (also known as the Small Communities Policy ) encourages states to respond to a small community's environmental violations with comprehensive compliance assistance. The state may reduce or waive penalties for a small community (a community with 2,500 or fewer residents) if the community works in good faith to identify all its environmental concerns, enters into an enforceable agreement and schedule to correct all its environmental violations, and meets its compliance commitments.