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Georgia

Underground Storage Tank releases and corrective action

Agency Georgia Environmental Protection Division
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Georgia Underground Storage Tank releases and corrective action

Georgia's leaking tank records are kept by the Underground Storage Tank Management Program (USTMP) of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD). A confirmed release must be reported to the program within 24 hours, and its two Corrective Action units record the release and review the closure reports and corrective action plans that follow.

In a Phase I ESA

These release records are the Georgia form of the state leaking storage tank records that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source. The general reading of a leaking tank listing is on the LUST page. What is particular to Georgia is what counts as a confirmed release, which unit runs the case, and where the list is posted.

What counts as a release

EPD defines a release as any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching or disposing from an underground storage tank into groundwater, surface water or subsurface soils. In practical terms, it says a release is confirmed any time field tests indicate petroleum in natural soils or groundwater, or free product (a petroleum sheen) is observed on surface water. Notice is due within 24 hours in three cases:

  • the tank fails a system test in two consecutive months;
  • a spill or overfill of more than 25 gallons of product occurs;
  • soil or groundwater analytical results indicate the presence of petroleum.

The report is the Petroleum Product Release Notification, form GUST-1. EPD says that if the release was confirmed by a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment, the entire report must be included. A Phase II that finds petroleum at a tank site can therefore start a case, so ask whether the case file holds that report.

Who runs the case

  • Corrective Action, Responsible Party Lead (CARPL) Unit. Records and processes new confirmed petroleum releases from UST and non-UST facilities. Reviews and approves closure reports and corrective action plans for sites eligible for reimbursement from the Georgia Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund. Oversees the investigation and remediation of non-UST petroleum releases.
  • Corrective Action, State Team Lead (CASTL) Unit. Reviews and approves closure reports and corrective action plans for sites not eligible for that reimbursement. Provides and manages corrective action contractors for cleanup of eligible facilities. Reviews closure reports and corrective action plans for petroleum groundwater impacts at sites under the Brownfield Program.

A second program touches petroleum outside regulated tanks. EPD says the Solid Waste Management Program's Environmental Monitoring Unit inspects methane and groundwater monitoring at petroleum pipelines, aboveground storage tanks and unregulated underground storage tanks.

What the file can hold

EPD says corrective action reports are submitted through GEOS, the Georgia EPD Online System. The GUST-1 itself is emailed, and EPD says not to use the release notification link on the GEOS dashboard. The forms and templates EPD posts for consultants show the paper a release generates: the GUST-1 notification, a site check report, a closure report, a Corrective Action Plan Part A (CAP-A), a site investigation summary report, a monitoring only report, a Corrective Action Plan Part B (CAP-B), active remediation progress reports, a site ranking form and a certificate of completion.

  • CAP-A. EPD says it is designed to identify the source area, the radius of contamination and potential receptors, and to establish sampling data used to determine the next course of action.
  • CAP-B. Required if petroleum contaminants in soil or groundwater exceed one or more of the thresholds in what EPD cites as GUST Rule 391-3-15.09(3). It must use the Georgia Risk Based Corrective Action (GRBCA) Model, which EPD says is designed to determine Applicable Threshold Levels for contaminated sites.

EPD's GRBCA page says supplemental reports must be submitted when requesting NFA for a site or facility. The page does not spell the abbreviation out.

EPD notes that petroleum vapors from a release can affect indoor spaces, and that contamination does not stop at property lines. Sampling the extent of contamination, which may need access to neighboring property, is what EPD calls delineation. For a release next door, check whether delineation reached the property.

Where to look a site up

  • The Corrective Action Projects and Cleanups report, on EPD's UST Data and Reporting page. EPD says it includes facility information, the confirmed release date and the cleanup status of facilities that have reported a petroleum release, and that it is updated every six months. The copy posted was revised September 2026.
  • GEOS, through its Public Inquiry Portal, for electronic records dated 2019 to the current year.
  • The program's line is 404.362.2687.

Getting the file

EPD says facility files dated 2008 to 2018 are available only in hard copy at its Land Branch Tradeport location, and that most files from before 2008 have been archived offsite. Hard copy reviews are by appointment, requested by email at the address on EPD's UST File Reviews page. Requests under the Georgia Open Records Act go through EPD's Open Records Request Portal.

Sources

Georgia Environmental Protection Division pages, read October 7, 2026:

Maintained by Barrow. General reference only, not legal or professional advice. Barrow is not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency. See how Barrow drafts the report