LUST

ASTM search distance 0.5 mile

Scope State / Tribal

LUST stands for leaking underground storage tank, and the record is a state's or tribe's list of leaking storage tanks (E1527-21, 3.3.14, Table 2). When a release from an underground storage tank system is suspected or confirmed, the owner or operator must report it to the implementing agency, investigate it, and respond in steps that can end in a corrective action plan. Each state or tribe keeps its own list under its own program, and the regulation does not say what a state's list records or calls a case.

What puts a property on this record

A release is "any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching or disposing from an UST into groundwater, surface water or subsurface soils" (40 CFR 280.12).

Under part 280, "Owners and operators of UST systems must report to the implementing agency within 24 hours, or another reasonable period specified by the implementing agency" on finding released regulated substances at or around the site, on unusual operating conditions, or on release detection results pointing to a possible release; the last two have listed exceptions (40 CFR 280.50). Unless corrective action has begun, a suspected release is investigated and confirmed within 7 days, or another reasonable time the agency specifies (40 CFR 280.52). A petroleum spill or overfill is reported within 24 hours, or another period the agency sets, when the release exceeds 25 gallons, or another reasonable amount the agency specifies, or causes a sheen on nearby surface water (40 CFR 280.53(a)).

On a confirmed release the owner or operator reports to the agency, stops further release and mitigates fire, explosion and vapor hazards within 24 hours, then submits an abatement report and site characterization information within 20 and 45 days, or other periods the agency sets (40 CFR 280.61 to 280.63). Where free product is found, it is removed to the extent the agency determines practicable (40 CFR 280.64). Soil and groundwater investigations are required where listed conditions exist, such as evidence that wells were affected (40 CFR 280.65). The agency may require a corrective action plan, and approves it "only after ensuring that implementation of the plan will adequately protect human health, safety, and the environment" (40 CFR 280.66(a), (b)).

The steps after a confirmed release do not apply to tanks excluded under 280.10(b), nor to systems under RCRA Subtitle C corrective action requirements (40 CFR 280.60).

What a listing shows, and what it does not

The regulation's steps are for a release, suspected or confirmed, from an underground storage tank system it covers; it does not say a state's list holds only such releases. Where a confirmed release needs a corrective action plan, the agency must give public notice, and release information and plan decisions are open to public inspection on request (40 CFR 280.67(a), (b)).

The regulation is silent on the substance, volume or extent of any particular release, and on whether it reached another property. Its sections on release response and corrective action (280.60 to 280.67) print no step that closes a case. For a suspected release the regulation does print an end: where system tests show no release and contamination was not the reason for suspecting one, or where the site check shows no release, further investigation is not required (40 CFR 280.52(a)(3), (b)(2)). The one provision that speaks of ending a plan requires public notice if an approved plan does not achieve its cleanup levels and termination is under consideration (40 CFR 280.67(d)).

In a Phase I ESA

Lists of state and tribal leaking storage tanks are a standard government record source, with an approximate minimum search distance of 0.5 mile (0.8 km); the table's note says formerly active sites should be researched as well as active ones. The professional may adjust the distance and explains the adjustment (E1527-21, 8.1.2.1, 8.2.2, Table 2).

If the subject property or an adjoining property is listed, the standard says the pertinent regulatory files should be reviewed, to help the professional judge whether the listing means a recognized environmental condition (REC), a historical or controlled one, or a de minimis condition at the subject property, or the report explains why not; records from another source may be reviewed instead (E1527-21, 8.2.3.1, 8.2.3.2).

For a case at the subject property, the answer turns on what the file records of the release (substance, extent, soil, groundwater, free product), what the agency decided and on what cleanup basis, and whether any restriction or control remains. See closed leaking tank case with a no further action letter, old closure and today's cleanup criteria and activity and use limitations. If the file shows a release has occurred, then unless judged a de minimis condition or a historical REC, the REC is listed in the Conclusions, and the professional should give an opinion on additional investigation (E1527-21, 3.2.20, 3.2.39, 12.7, 12.8).

For a nearby case, the site characterization, unless the agency directs otherwise, assembles information about the release, including the nature and estimated quantity, the surrounding wells, subsurface soil conditions, sewers and land use (40 CFR 280.63(a)). Those facts feed the judgment of likely presence at the subject property, for which the standard's nonmandatory appendix lists factors that include where the source lies and the topography, geology and hydrogeology (E1527-21, 3.2.73, X4.1). See open leaking tank case at a nearby property, likely release and likely presence and agency file review.

For every listing of the subject property or of another site inside the search distance, the report must give the professional's judgment on what the listing means for the analysis of recognized environmental conditions at the subject property, and one statement may cover several sites (E1527-21, 8.1.10).

What the federal rule says

Records of leaking underground storage tanks (one-half mile);

40 CFR 312.26(c)(1)(iv), edition revised as of July 1, 2025

The standard's distance is the same. The rule lets the professional modify a search distance, with the rationale documented (40 CFR 312.26(d)), and lets the procedures of E1527-21 be used to comply with its sections 312.23 through 312.31 (40 CFR 312.11(a)). For a party seeking the liability protections, the rule's inquiry is into releases of hazardous substances (40 CFR 312.1(c)(1)); the standard's scope also includes petroleum products (E1527-21, 1.1.2).

Where the record is kept

The state tank program's public case lookup. The case file (assessment reports, closure letter) is the document that answers the questions the listing raises. The regulation sends the reports above to the implementing agency (40 CFR 280.61 to 280.63).

This page is general reference for environmental professionals. It does not classify any property. ASTM E1527-21 is the standard and is not reproduced here; the judgment of the environmental professional on the facts governs.

Classifying a finding

Situations in which this record type bears on the answer:

In each state

The state programs this handbook covers under this record type: