Pennsylvania
Storage tank registrations
Pennsylvania storage tank registrations
In Pennsylvania, aboveground and underground storage tanks are regulated by the Storage Tank Program of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), under the Storage Tank and Spill Prevention Act. The program's Division of Storage Tanks sits in DEP's Bureau of Environmental Cleanup and Brownfields. Since November 5, 1989, tank owners have had to register every regulated tank, and each tank is registered every year and DEP invoices a yearly fee, except that volunteer fire companies and EMS organizations pay no fee on their underground tanks.
In a Phase I ESA
DEP's registered tank records are the Pennsylvania 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 exists or existed. Releases are a separate record, the Storage Tank Cleanup Program incident list.
Four Pennsylvania details shape the search.
- Size and contents decide what is regulated. DEP regulates an underground system holding more than a very small concentration of regulated substances when its volume is greater than 110 gallons and at least 10 percent of that volume is below the ground surface. It regulates an aboveground system when its volume is greater than 250 gallons and 10 percent or less is underground, unless an exemption applies. A tank below those sizes is not one DEP requires to be registered, so the absence of a registration does not show the absence of a tank.
- Home heating oil tanks are left out. DEP says home heating oil tanks are not regulated and are not part of its tank list. See residential heating oil tanks.
- Some aboveground tanks are not displayed. DEP says aboveground tank systems storing highly hazardous substances, and aboveground tank systems with a capacity greater than 21,000 gallons, are not displayed in its searches or lists because the information is sensitive. For a site with large aboveground tanks, do not rely on the search alone. The pages read do not say how to get the withheld records.
- Active and inactive tanks are separate searches. One search returns active tanks. The other returns inactive tanks, which DEP describes as removed, permanently closed and the like. Run both.
What the record shows
The active search gives the facility name and address, the facility, client and site ID numbers, and for each tank a sequence number, tank code, date installed, capacity, substance code, status, date of last inspection and inspection code. The inactive search gives the same items without the inspection date and code. DEP publishes a key to the fields. A few entries that matter when reading a listing, in DEP's own words:
| Field | Code | DEP's explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Tank code | AST | Aboveground storage tank system |
| Tank code | UST | Underground storage tank system |
| Status code | C | Currently In Use |
| Status code | T | Temporarily Out of Use |
| Permit status | APPR | Approved |
| Permit status | WITHH | Withheld |
| Permit status | WRR | Withheld Registration To Remove |
| Inspection code | FOI | Facility Operation Inspection (UST only) |
The key carries more codes, including one for each substance stored. Each compartment of a multi-compartment tank is registered as a separate tank. Three ID numbers appear: the SITE ID, a department-wide number assigned by DEP's eFACTS database, the OTHER ID, the facility number assigned by the Storage Tank Program, and the CLIENT ID, a department-wide client number assigned by eFACTS. The cleanup incident list has a field DEP describes the same way as the OTHER ID, the PROGRAM OTHER ID, which it calls the Storage Tank Facility ID.
Read the permit status against what DEP says about it. An underground tank needs a valid operating permit before it is operated. DEP says it routinely withholds the operating permit of tanks that have been emptied and taken out of service, and may suspend or revoke a permit where significant violations exist.
An owner must keep a valid registration on a tank that is out of service until it is closed or removed. DEP describes closure as a multi-step process: a notification at least 30 days before closure, a DEP-certified remover, closure and sampling, an amended registration form signed by the remover, and a closure report, which DEP says is submitted when required or requested. For a tank shown as removed or closed, ask for the closure report and the sampling results, and check whether a report was filed at all.
Where to look a site up
- DEP's Storage Tank Data / Searches page carries the Active Storage Tank Search and the Inactive Storage Tank Search. DEP says both are updated daily and are drawn from eFACTS.
- eFACTS can be queried by county, municipality, client name, authorization ID, permit number, client ID or zip code, and shows inspections and violations. DEP notes that the Storage Tank Program is included under the Waste Program there.
- The Storage Tank Program's customer service is at 800-42TANKS (Pennsylvania only) or 717-772-5599. General questions about the lists go to tanks@pa.gov.
Getting the file
DEP's records are reviewed through its regional offices. DEP recommends an Informal File Review, requested on an electronic form and scheduled with the regional office, before a request under the Right-to-Know Law. Both routes are on the Informal File Review and Right-to-Know requests page. DEP says the tanks@pa.gov mailbox is not for formal Right-to-Know requests.
Sources
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection pages, read October 1, 2026, no modified date shown: