Virginia Law

The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Aboveground storage tank" or "AST" means any one or combination of tanks, including pipes, used to contain an accumulation of oil at atmospheric pressure, and the volume of which, including the volume of the pipes, is more than 90% above the surface of the ground. This term does not include line pipe and breakout tanks of an interstate pipeline regulated under the federal Accountable Pipeline Safety and Partnership Act of 1996 (49 USC § 60101 et seq.).

"Accidental discharge" means any sudden or nonsudden discharge of oil from a facility that results in a need for containment and clean up which was neither expected nor intended by the operator.

"Annual aggregate" means the maximum financial responsibility requirement that an operator is required to demonstrate annually.

"Board" means the State Water Control Board. When used outside the context of the promulgation of regulations, including regulations to establish general permits, pursuant to this chapter, "board" means the Department of Environmental Quality.

"Change in service" means change in operation, conditions of the stored product, specific gravity, corrosivity, temperature or pressure that has occurred from the original that may affect the tank's suitability for service.

"Containment and clean up" means abatement, containment, removal and disposal of oil and, to the extent possible, the restoration of the environment to its existing state prior to an oil discharge.

"Controlling interest" means direct ownership of at least 50% of the voting stock of another entity.

"Department" or "DEQ" means the Department of Environmental Quality.

"Discharge" means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying or dumping.

"Facility" means any development or installation within the Commonwealth that deals in, stores or handles oil, and includes a pipeline.

"Financial reporting year" means the latest consecutive 12-month period for which any of the following reports used to support a financial test is prepared: (i) a 10-K report submitted to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC); (ii) an annual report of tangible net worth submitted to Dun and Bradstreet; (iii) annual reports submitted to the Energy Information Administration or the Rural Utilities Service; or (iv) a year-end financial statement authorized under 9VAC25-640-70 B or C. "Financial reporting year" may thus comprise a fiscal or calendar year period.

"Group self-insurance pool" or "pool" means a pool organized by two or more operators of facilities for the purpose of forming a group self-insurance pool in order to demonstrate financial responsibility as required by § 62.1-44.34:16 of the Code of Virginia.

"Legal defense cost" means any expense that an operator or provider of financial assurance incurs in defending against claims or actions brought (i) by the federal government or the department to require containment or clean up or to recover the costs of containment and clean up, or to collect civil penalties under federal or state law or to assert any claim on behalf of the Virginia Petroleum Storage Tank Fund; or (ii) by any person to enforce the terms of a financial assurance mechanism.

"Local government entity" means a municipality, county, town, commission, separately chartered and operated special district, school board, political subdivision of a state or other special purpose government which provides essential services.

"Member" means an operator of an aboveground storage tank or pipeline who has entered into a member agreement and thereby becomes a member of a group self-insurance pool.

"Member agreement" means the written agreement executed between each member and the pool, which sets forth the conditions of membership in the pool, the obligations, if any, of each member to the other members, and the terms, coverages, limits, and deductibles of the pool plan.

"Occurrence" means an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to conditions, that results in a discharge from an AST. Note: This definition is intended to assist in the understanding of this chapter and is not intended either to limit the meaning of "occurrence" in a way that conflicts with standard insurance usage or to prevent the use of other standard insurance terms in place of "occurrence."

"Oil" means oil of any kind and in any form, including, but not limited to, petroleum and petroleum byproducts, fuel oil, lubricating oils, sludge, oil refuse, oil mixed with other wastes, crude oil and all other liquid hydrocarbons regardless of specific gravity.

"Operator" means any person who owns, operates, charters by demise, rents or otherwise exercises control over or responsibility for a facility or a vehicle or a vessel. For purposes of this chapter, the definition of operator is restricted to operators of facilities.

"Person" means an individual; trust; firm; joint stock company; corporation, including a government corporation; partnership; association; any state or agency thereof; municipality; county; town; commission; political subdivision of a state; any interstate body; consortium; joint venture; commercial entity; the government of the United States or any unit or agency thereof.

"Pipeline" means all new and existing pipe, rights of way, and any equipment, facility, or building used in the transportation of oil, including, but not limited to, line pipe, valves and other appurtenances connected to line pipe, pumping units, fabricated assemblies associated with pumping units, metering and delivery stations and fabricated assemblies therein, and breakout tanks.

"Pool plan" means the plan of self-insurance offered by the pool to its members as specifically designated in the member agreement.

"Provider of financial assurance" means a person that provides financial assurance to an operator of an aboveground storage tank through one of the mechanisms listed in 9VAC25-640-70 through 9VAC25-640-120, including a guarantor, insurer, group self-insurance pool, surety, certificate of deposit, or issuer of a letter of credit.

"Release" means any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching, or disposing from an underground storage tank or facility into groundwater, surface water, or upon lands, subsurface soils or storm drain systems.

"Storage capacity" means the total capacity of an AST or a container, whether filled in whole or in part with oil, a mixture of oil, or mixtures of oil with nonhazardous substances, or empty. An AST that has been permanently closed in accordance with the requirements of 9VAC25-91 has no storage capacity.

"Substantial business relationship" means the extent of a business relationship necessary under Virginia law to make a guarantee contract issued incident to that relationship valid and enforceable. A guarantee contract is issued "incident to that relationship" if it arises from and depends on existing economic transactions between the guarantor and the operator.

"Tangible net worth" means the tangible assets that remain after deducting liabilities; such assets do not include intangibles such as goodwill and rights to patents or royalties. For purposes of this definition, "assets" means all existing and all probable future economic benefits obtained or controlled by a particular entity as a result of past transactions.

"Tank" means a device designed to contain an accumulation of oil and constructed of nonearthen materials, such as concrete, steel, or plastic, that provides structural support. For purposes of 9VAC25-640-220, a tank means a device, having a liquid capacity of more than 60 gallons, designed to contain an accumulation of oil and constructed of nonearthen materials, such as concrete, steel, or plastic, that provides structural support. This term does not include flow-through process tanks as defined in 40 CFR Part 280.

"Termination" under Appendix III and Appendix IV means only those changes that could result in a gap in coverage as where the insured has not obtained substitute coverage or has obtained substitute coverage with a different retroactive date than the retroactive date of the original policy.

"Underground storage tank" means any one or combination of tanks, including connecting pipes, used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances, and the volume of which, including the volume of underground connecting pipes, is 10% or more beneath the surface of the ground. This term does not include any:

1. Farm or residential tanks having a capacity of 1,100 gallons or less and used for storing motor fuel for noncommercial purposes;

2. Tanks used for storing heating oil for consumption on the premises where stored;

3. Septic tanks;

4. Pipeline facilities (including gathering lines) regulated under:

a. The Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 (49 USC App. 1671 et seq.);

b. The Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979 (49 USC App. 2001 et seq.); or

c. Any intrastate pipeline facility regulated under state laws comparable to the provisions of the law referred to in subdivision 4 a or 4 b of this definition;

5. Surface impoundments, pits, ponds, or lagoons;

6. Storm water or wastewater collection systems;

7. Flow-through process tanks;

8. Liquid traps or associated gathering lines directly related to oil or gas production and gathering operations; or

9. Storage tanks situated in an underground area, such as a basement, cellar, mineworking, drift, shaft, or tunnel, if the storage tank is situated upon or above the surface of the floor.

The term "underground storage tank" does not include any pipes connected to any tank which is described in subdivisions 1 through 9 of this definition.

"Vehicle" means any motor vehicle, rolling stock, or other artificial contrivance for transport whether self-propelled or otherwise, except vessels.

"Vessel" means every description of watercraft or other contrivance used as a means of transporting on water, whether self-propelled or otherwise, and shall include barges and tugs.