Former gasoline station with no tank records

Historical sources show the subject property was a gasoline station decades ago, and no tank registration or closure record has been found. The past use raises the question of a likely release and does not answer it. Whether it makes a recognized environmental condition (REC) depends on four things: how long the station ran and when, what became of its tanks, what the subject property shows today, and why no tank record exists.

What the answer turns on

With no documented release, the question falls under the second part of the REC definition: likely presence of petroleum products at the subject property owing to a release or a likely release (E1527-21, 3.2.73). The standard's appendixes are nonmandatory. Appendix X4 says the two judgments, likely release and likely presence, go together (E1527-21, X4.1).

How long the station ran, and when. The environmental professional considers what releases the historical uses could have led to (E1527-21, 8.3.1). For a likely release Appendix X4 points to operations involving petroleum products, their duration and their period. Its note gives petroleum storage and dispensing run for a significant period before regulatory controls as a possible example, if the professional believes a release likely (E1527-21, X4.1). Establish the first and last years the sources show the station. Long operation before such controls moves toward a likely release.
What became of the tanks. The body of the standard uses this case to show the parts of an assessment working together: records reveal a past gasoline station, the owner and occupants know of no tank, and the site visit should watch for signs of one (E1527-21, 7.3.1). Tanks left in the ground with product in them may also bring in the part of the definition on material threat (E1527-21, 3.2.52, 3.2.73).
What the subject property shows today. Vent pipes, fill pipes and access ways, odors, and stained soil or pavement are looked for (E1527-21, 9.4.12, 9.4.13, 9.4.23). Pavement and later buildings limit what can be seen, and such limits are recorded (E1527-21, 9.2.6).
Why no tank record exists. Records are often incomplete (E1527-21, 8.1.3), and a station that closed before a state registered tanks may never appear. Ohio says tanks last used on or before January 1, 1974 did not need registration, Florida dates its tank rules from 1983, and Pennsylvania has required registration since November 5, 1989.

The records that bear on it

Historical sources. Uses are traced back to the first developed use or 1940, whichever is earlier, from aerial photographs, fire insurance maps, local street directories and historical topographic maps where those can reasonably be had and are likely to help (E1527-21, 8.3.8). A use shown only as retail calls for further sources if they are likely to identify the specific use (E1527-21, 8.3.7). In Appendix X4's illustration of a former station, fire insurance maps showed where the tanks stood (E1527-21, X4.3).
Local records. Local lists of registered storage tanks, from sources such as the fire department and the building permit office, are additional records the standard names (E1527-21, 8.2.4, Table 3). Ohio's closure page lists where its tank agency suggests looking for removal records.
Government records. Check the leaking tank list as well as the registry; a listing at almost no distance is sometimes the subject property under a former operator's name.
Interviews and documents. Past owners, operators and occupants likely to have material information are interviewed where identified (E1527-21, 10.5.4). The owner, key site manager and user are asked for prior assessments, site investigation reports, geotechnical studies and tank registrations (E1527-21, 10.8.1).

What the federal rule says

On the history:

Historical documents and records may include, but are not limited to, aerial photographs, fire insurance maps, building department records, chain of title documents, and land use records.

40 CFR 312.24(a)

On what the records leave open:

The inquiry of the environmental professional should include an opinion regarding additional appropriate investigation, if any.

40 CFR 312.31(b)

How it is written up

The report describes the station with the other identified uses and explains any gaps in the history (E1527-21, 8.3.8). The use becomes a finding when the professional judges it may indicate presence or likely presence at the subject property, and the opinion reasons for or against calling it a REC (E1527-21, 12.5, 12.6).

Where the professional concludes a release likely occurred and petroleum products are likely present at the subject property, the opinion gives the grounds: the years of operation, the period, what is known of the tanks, what the site visit showed. 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).

Where the professional concludes otherwise, the opinion gives its reasoning on the same four facts (E1527-21, 12.6).

What would come closest to settling it is a record of what became of the tanks and what the ground holds: a closure report with sampling results, or a prior investigation. The standard includes no sampling (E1527-21, 7.4); the rule notes that sampling and analysis may be conducted to address data gaps (40 CFR 312.20(g)).

Fire insurance map or street directory coverage of the station's years may be what cannot be had. Required information that good faith efforts could not obtain is a data gap, significant if it affects the ability to identify a REC: named in the Findings with the sources consulted, discussed in the Opinions and listed in the Conclusions (E1527-21, 3.2.19, 3.2.78, 12.5.1, 12.6.2, 12.7).

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.