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Kentucky

Underground storage tank releases and corrective action

Agency Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection
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The Underground Storage Tank (UST) Branch of the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection (DEP) has two Corrective Action Sections, charged with oversight of the assessment and remediation of a release into the environment from a regulated UST system. Their project managers direct field work, review incoming reports, and give regulatory guidance on release response and reporting, initial abatement, site check, closure, site investigation and corrective action.

In a Phase I ESA

This handbook reads the UST Branch's corrective action cases as the Kentucky form of the state leaking storage tank records that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source; the pages read link no list of them. The general reading of a leaking tank listing is on the LUST page. Releases from tanks the branch does not regulate are overseen by the Superfund Branch instead; see Non-UST petroleum releases. The tank registration is a separate record, on the underground storage tank registrations page. The UST Branch's Compliance Section page sends its link for UST release reporting to the Emergency Response Branch; see Environmental emergencies and spill reports.

How a case moves

DEP's page describes these stages, each tied to a section of its UST Corrective Action Manual.

  • Site check. The Cabinet may direct an owner or operator to perform a site check if a release occurs or is suspected, to find whether contamination is present where it is most likely to have occurred. Section 3.0 sets the minimum requirements for the site check report.
  • Closure or replacement. Removing or replacing any part of a UST system follows the procedures in Section 4.0, under 401 KAR 42:060.
  • Site investigation. A site investigation may be directed if contamination levels exceed screening levels. It determines the full extent of contamination in the soils, surface water, air, sediment, groundwater or bedrock. Section 5.0 sets the minimum requirements for its report.
  • Corrective action. Section 6.0 sets the required corrective action activities under 401 KAR 42:060, including protocols for feasibility studies, pilot studies and corrective action plans.

Once groundwater and soil remediation objectives have been achieved, DEP says a Letter of No Further Action can be issued to the owner of the UST facility. Ask whether one was issued, and read what the reports before it found.

The tank fund and its ranking list

The UST Branch's Claims and Payments Section administers the Petroleum Storage Tank Environmental Assurance Fund (PSTEAF). Its Financial Responsibility Account provides up to $1 million for eligible corrective action and up to $1 million for third-party liability. Its Petroleum Storage Tank Account is for owners and operators who are ineligible for the first account, and provides up to $1 million for eligible corrective action costs. A separate Small Owners Tank Removal Account helps qualified small owners with the cost of routine removal of UST systems: removal costs may be eligible even if the Cabinet does not require corrective action, and the account does not reimburse corrective action costs.

Facilities in the site investigation phase that are eligible for reimbursement from the two corrective action accounts are ranked under 401 KAR 42:250. The ranking criteria are the extent of damage to the environment, the potential threat to human health, and the owner's or operator's financial ability to perform corrective action. DEP updates its online facility ranking information monthly.

Where to look a site up

Getting the file

The UST Branch's pages link the Cabinet's Open Records page. DEP's answer to a facility buyer on its UST registration page is to email eec.kora@ky.gov with the facility address and the type of documents needed. For a release case, name the site check and site investigation reports, the corrective action plan and any Letter of No Further Action. Only residents of the Commonwealth, as the Open Records page defines them, may request to inspect public records.

Sources

Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet pages, read October 12, 2026, no modified date shown:

Maintained by Barrow. General reference only, not legal or professional advice. Barrow is not affiliated with any government agency, and neither Barrow nor the information as presented here is endorsed by any state or government agency. See how Barrow drafts the report