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North Carolina

Underground Storage Tank (UST) Program

Agency North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
ASTM search distance Subject property and adjoining properties

The Underground Storage Tank (UST) program of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is managed by the UST Section of its Division of Waste Management (DWM). The section permits regulated and commercial underground tanks, collects their annual fees and answers requests for information about them. It helps owners and operators keep to operating standards such as leak detection and spill and overfill prevention, and it oversees both the permanent closure of tank systems and the corrective action a tank release calls for. Within the section, the Permits and Inspection Branch issues operating permits and inspects tank facilities.

In a Phase I ESA

DEQ's tank registrations are the North Carolina form of the state registered storage tank records that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source. The general reading of a registered tank listing is on the UST / AST page. A registration says a tank system exists or existed. Releases are a separate record; see the UST Section Corrective Action Branch.

Two North Carolina details shape the search.

  • Few aboveground tanks are registered. DEQ requires an aboveground tank to be registered with the UST Section only if it meets the definition of an oil terminal facility, and says most do not. See Aboveground Storage Tanks.
  • Tank files are still partly on paper. DEQ says the UST program is still converting its paper records to electronic files, so, unlike most DWM facilities, its files are not linked from the division's Site Locator Tool. Registration, permitting and inspection documents completed after August 2011, and some older ones, are in DEQ's separate UST search. Paper registration files are at the UST Section's central office in Raleigh, and the section also keeps files in DEQ's regional offices.

DEQ's forms for underground tanks

The UST Forms page lists the forms the Permits and Inspection Branch uses over a tank system's life. Among them:

  • UST-8, Notification for Activities Involving Underground Storage Tanks;
  • UST-6, the application to install or replace tanks, with UST-6C, its schedule of materials, and the UST-6D to UST-6H testing forms;
  • UST-15, Change of Ownership of UST System(s);
  • UST-3, the notice of intent to close a tank permanently or change its service;
  • UST-2A and UST-2B, the site investigation reports for a permanent closure or change in service, one for registered tanks and one for unregistered tanks;
  • UST-17A and UST-17B, the 24-hour and 7-day notices of a suspected release.

For a tank that was closed or taken out of service, ask whether the file holds the notice of intent and the UST-2A or UST-2B report.

Where to look a site up

Getting the file

DWM's file room page says UST Section files can be asked for by letter to the section, by fax to (919) 715-1117 or by phone at (919) 707-8171. The UST file review page asks you to book an appointment to see the paper registration files in Raleigh, and sets out each regional office's own terms; several regional offices ask for the facility ID number and county before they pull inspection files. DEQ's online request form is the department's general route; see Requesting Public Records.

Sources

North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown:

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