South Dakota
Abandoned Tank Removal Project
The Abandoned Tank Removal Project is a voluntary program in which the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) removes qualifying abandoned underground storage tanks and the Petroleum Release Compensation Fund (PRCF) pays for the removal and any cleanup needed. DANR says the 2000 Legislature authorized it through SB 197, to finish the tank cleanups that began in 1988. The Fund's own page calls it the Abandoned Tank Removal Program.
In a Phase I ESA
ASTM E1527-21 does not name this program among its standard record sources. It matters on a property with an old station or fuel tank: DANR says that abandoned tanks of the kind the bill targets will, if left in the ground, leak whatever hydrocarbons remain in them over time. The general reading of a registered tank listing is on the UST / AST page.
Which tanks qualify, as DANR sets out:
- Eligible. Abandoned tanks for petroleum or waste oil at a gas station or commercial motor fuel vendor that shut down before April 1, 1988; abandoned waste oil tanks at a commercial motor fuel vendor or a noncommercial operation; and abandoned petroleum tanks at a noncommercial operation.
- Not eligible. Abandoned petroleum tanks at a gas station or commercial motor fuel vendor that shut down on April 1, 1988 or later; buried tanks that cannot be reached, such as one beneath a standing building; abandoned tanks that never held petroleum products; and abandoned aboveground tanks.
To apply, the owner fills out and signs the removal form. DANR says that by signing, the owner makes a voluntary written request to the Fund, gives up all claims against the state, certifies that property taxes are paid up, hands ownership of the tanks and their contents to the state once they are removed, accepts that the state will not replace asphalt, concrete or other surfacing, and lets the state onto the property to remove the tanks and to assess and clean up the site.
For a property where an old tank was taken out by the state, ask DANR whether the file holds a record of the removal and of any assessment or cleanup that followed. The pages read do not say what records the project keeps.
Where to look a site up
- The pages read link no list of tanks removed under the project. DANR's Data & Mapping page says the Tanks & Spills Map shows regulated tank sites; the pages read do not say whether tanks removed under the project appear on it.
- The project's page links the Tank Removal Form, which this handbook did not open.
- The Petroleum Release Compensation Fund is at (605) 773-3769.
Getting the file
DANR's page footer links Request Public Records, an address on the state's sd.gov portal that this handbook did not open. The pages read do not say what a request must include.
Sources
South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown: