Ohio underground storage tank releases (BUSTR)

Ohio's leaking tank cases are the release records of the Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations (BUSTR), in the Ohio Department of Commerce's Division of State Fire Marshal. BUSTR's Corrective Action section responds to petroleum releases from underground storage tanks (USTs). Owners and operators must investigate a suspected or confirmed release, evaluate petroleum chemicals in soil and groundwater, and carry out monitoring, cleanup or other corrective action as needed.

In a Phase I ESA

BUSTR's release records are the Ohio 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 Ohio is how a release is classed and coded.

• Small spills may leave no record. An owner or operator must report a suspected or confirmed release to BUSTR within 24 hours of discovery. A spill or overfill during a fuel transfer need not be reported if it is 25 gallons or less, does not reach a surface water body, storm water system, monitoring well or observation well, and is cleaned up to pre-spill conditions within 24 hours.
• Hazardous substance tanks are treated differently. BUSTR says it regulates closure, but generally not corrective action, for USTs holding the hazardous substances listed in its rules. Waste oil USTs that hold both petroleum and hazardous substances are regulated for both.
• An old release may be under old rules. BUSTR says the rules in effect when a release was discovered can still apply, and keeps rule sets effective 1992, 1999, 2005, 2012, 2017 and 2022. Check which set a closed case was measured against.
• Some releases can leave BUSTR's rules. Ohio EPA says a release that BUSTR has designated Class C or Class D may be cleaned up under either BUSTR rules or the rules of Ohio EPA's Voluntary Action Program. Class D eligibility is open only to a volunteer that is not a responsible party and not the subject of a BUSTR order or referral, on a property with other hazardous substances being addressed under that program.

What the record shows

BUSTR publishes a list of the codes used in its database and forms. Three sets matter when reading a release.

The class code is mostly about the responsible party (RP):

The release status says where the case stands. A few of the entries:

The Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Code (LTF) has nine values. They include "SUS/CON" from a regulated UST, from a non-regulated UST, and from an aboveground storage tank, so a BUSTR record is not always about a regulated tank. The same list gives SUS as a suspected release or source identified and CON as a release confirmed. The list has many more status codes, including Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 evaluations. Read each code against the list; do not infer a meaning from the abbreviation.

Where to look a site up

• BUSTR's database is OTTER Engage, which replaced the older OTTER database in July 2025. Ohio EPA points to BUSTR's database as the place to see whether a release has already been designated Class C.
• BUSTR's Corrective Action section is at 614-752-7938.

Getting the file

To ask for information about a specific release, BUSTR says to file a Public Records Request as a service request in OTTER Engage. It publishes job aids for doing so with and without an OHID account, and for checking a request's status and retrieving the documents.

Sources

Ohio Department of Commerce pages, read October 7, 2026, no modified date shown:

• Corrective Action (Clean Up)
• Submit a Suspected Release to BUSTR
• What Does BUSTR Regulate
• Rules (the page shows the date March 29, 2021, without saying what the date is)
• BUSTR Acronym List
• Search BUSTR Database
• Public Records Request (PRR) & Database Search

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency pages, read October 7, 2026, no modified date shown:

• VAP Eligible BUSTR Releases
• Voluntary Action Program (read October 6, 2026)