UST Operator Certification Procedures

1. Once you have completed PASS' North Dakota Class A/B Operator Training course, save your operator training certificate to your computer as a .pdf file.  (To do this, click on the Certificate box in your PASS Training dashboard.  When the browser window opens to your certificate, click the computer in the lower middle of the screen to save the file.)
2. Go to http://www.ndhealth.gov/wm/UndergroundStorageTankProgram/.
3. Click the UST Online Services link.
   1. If you have NOT received a username and password from the NDDoH, click the New Operator tab and New Operator Application, then fill out the form and submit. You will receive an e-mail from the NDDoH with your username and password.
   2. If you have received a username and password from the NDDoH, click the Operator Training Login tab and Login to Operator Training. Enter your username and password and click Log In.
4. Click Operator Training.
5. The next page is titled Training Menu for YOUR NAME.
6. In the Modules area, click the Go to Training link to the right of the module titled Introduction. On the next page, read through the sections and answer the questions.
7. Repeat Step #6 for the modules titled Operator Training and Mandatory.
8. On the Training Menu for YOUR NAME page, click Request Reciprocity.
9. Under Reciprocity Source, choose your operator training certificate.
10. For Reciprocity Date, choose the date on your certificate.
11. Next to Submit Certificate By, choose Upload.
12. Click the Choose File button next to File to Upload. This will open a new window allowing you to select the saved copy of your certificate.
13. Click Submit Request for Reciprocity.

Registration & Fees

Release Reporting

• The North Dakota Petroleum Tank Release Compensation Fund (PTRCF) at 701-328-9600 or jbitz@nd.gov; and 
• The NDDoH UST program at 701-328-5166.

Release Detection

• Manual tank gauging;
• Automatic tank gauging (ATG);
• Secondary containment with interstitial monitoring;
• Statistical Inventory Reconciliation (SIR);
• Tank tightness testing; or
• Another method approved by the NDDoH.

Release Prevention

• Spill prevention equipment that will prevent release of product to the environment when the transfer hose is detached from the fill pipe (for example, a spill catchment basin); and

•  Automatically shut off flow into the tank when the tank is no more than ninety-five percent full;
•  Alert the transfer operator when the tank is no more than ninety percent full by restricting the flow into the tank or triggering a high-level alarm; or
• Restrict flow thirty minutes prior to overfilling, alert the operator with a high-level alarm one minute before overfilling, or automatically shut off flow into the tank so that none of the fittings located on top of the tank are exposed to product due to overfilling.

•  Alternative equipment is used that is determined by the department to be no less protective of human health and the environment than the equipment specified above; or
• The underground storage tank system is filled by transfers of no more than twenty-five gallons [94.63 liters] at one time.

Financial Responsibility

• Financial test of self-insurance
• Guarantee
• Insurance and risk retention group coverage
• Surety bond
• Letter of credit
• Trust fund
• Stand-by trust fund
• Participation in the North Dakota Petroleum Tank Release Compensation Fund (PTRCF)

Inspection & Testing Requirements

1. Release detection systems are properly operating and maintained;
2. Spill, overfill, and corrosion protection systems are in place and operational;
3. Tank top manways, tank and dispenser sumps, secondary containment sumps, and under-dispenser containment are intact, are properly maintained, and are free of water, product, and debris;
4. Alarm conditions that could indicate a release are properly investigated and corrected, and are reported as suspected releases as required under section 33-24-08-40 or documented to show that no release has occurred; and
5. Unusual operating conditions and other indications of a release, or suspected release, indicated in accordance with section 33-24-08-40, are properly reported.

Delivery Prohibition/Non-Compliance Enforcement

Temporary & Permanent Closure

• Leave vent lines open and functioning; and
• Cap and secure all other lines, pumps, manways, and ancillary equipment.

1. At least thirty days before beginning either permanent closure or a change in service, or within another reasonable time period determined by the department, owners and operators must notify the department of their intent to permanently close or make the change in service, unless such action is in response to corrective action. The required assessment of the excavation zone under section 33-24-08-62 must be performed after notifying the department but before completion of the permanent closure or a change in service.
2. To permanently close a tank, owners and operators must empty and clean it by removing all liquids and accumulated sludges. All tanks taken out of service permanently must also be either removed from the ground or filled with an inert solid material.
3. Continued use of an underground storage tank system to store a nonregulated substance is considered a change in service. Before a change in service, owners and operators must empty and clean the tank by removing all liquid and accumulated sludge and conduct a site assessment.

Recordkeeping

• A corrosion expert's analysis of site corrosion potential if corrosion protection equipment is not used (subdivisiond of subsection1 of section 33-24-08-10, subdivisionc of subsection 2 of section 33-24-08-10);
• Documentation of operation of corrosion protection equipment (section 33-24-08-21);
• Documentation of underground storage tank system repairs (subsection 6 of section 33-24-08-23);
• Recent compliance with release detection requirements (section 33-24-08-35); and
• Results of the site investigation conducted at permanent closure (section 33-24-08-64).
• All written performance claims pertaining to any release detection system used, and the manner in which these claims have been justified or tested by the equipment manufacturer or installer, must be maintained for five years or for another reasonable period of time determined by the department, from the date of installation;
• The results of any sampling, testing, or monitoring must be maintained for at least one year, or for another reasonable period of time determined by the department, except that the results of tank tightness testing conducted in accordance with subsection 3 of section 33-24-08-33 must be retained until the next test is conducted; and
• Written documentation of all calibration, maintenance, and repair of release detection equipment permanently located onsite must be maintained for at least one year after the servicing work is completed, or for another reasonable time period determined by the department. Any schedules of required calibration and maintenance provided by the release detection equipment manufacturer must be retained for five years from the date of installation.

• At the underground storage tank site and immediately available for inspection by the department;
• At a readily available alternative site and be provided for inspection to the department upon request; or
• In case of permanent closure records required under section 33-24-08-64, owners and operators are also provided with the additional alternative of mailing closure records to the department if they cannot be kept at the site or an alternative site as indicated above.