Spills Reporting

Spills and releases in South Dakota are reported to the Inspection, Compliance, and Remediation Program of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR). DANR says the South Dakota Regulated Substance Program was set up to settle which substances and amounts must be reported and when, and to have spills and releases contained or cleaned up quickly. DANR's Brownfields page adds that contamination by a regulated substance must be reported, that DANR oversees spill, release and contaminated sites and requires their cleanup, and that its staff review all the work against the state and federal criteria that apply.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name state spill lists among its standard record sources. The federal counterpart of a state spill list is the emergency response record described on the ERNS page. A South Dakota spill report still matters, because it can be the only state record of a release that never became a cleanup case. In South Dakota the spill route is also the cleanup route: the pages read name no separate cleanup program for spill and release sites, and a storage tank release goes to the same line.

Four details shape how to read the record.

• The reporting triggers are broad. DANR's spill page says a discharge must be reported at once if, among other things, it threatens surface water or groundwater, is an immediate danger to human health or safety, puts a sheen on surface water, exceeds the state's groundwater or surface water quality standards, harms or threatens wildlife or aquatic life, or is reportable under EPA's List of Lists. Volume triggers include more than 25 gallons of a substance, crude oil from field activities above one barrel (42 gallons), and pesticide amounts set separately for transport and for spills outside secondary containment. A smaller discharge that is not cleaned up within 24 hours must be reported too.
• Two DANR pages set the volume differently. The spill page sets the trigger at a discharge above 25 gallons. DANR's permitting guide sets it at 25 gallons or more of a regulated substance.
• A suspected discharge counts. DANR says a suspected discharge must be reported within 24 hours, under ARSD 74:34:01:05. Its tank FAQ says in one answer that a suspected tank release must be reported to DANR at once and in the next that it must be reported within 24 hours, and that an aboveground petroleum overfill under 25 gallons need not be reported if it is contained and cleaned up within 24 hours.
• The law names a responsible person. Under SDCL 34A-12-16, as DANR's page explains it, the person who caused the discharge is the responsible person. If that person cannot be identified, the property owner or the tank operator at the time of the discharge is. Once any immediate threat is dealt with, the responsible person must assess and clean up the site, and DANR keeps a list of environmental consultants for that work.

DANR adds that a report to DANR does not meet a duty to report to any other state, local or federal agency, and that the responsible person must also find out the local reporting requirements. DANR's permitting guide gives the statute as SDCL chapter 34A-12 and the rules as ARSD article 74:34. Heating oil tanks, which the tank rules leave out, still fall under spill reporting.

DANR's spill page links an Incident Follow-Up Report form, which this handbook did not open. The pages read do not say when it is due or whether DANR keeps the completed form with the spill record; ask whether the file holds one.

Where to look a site up

• DANR's Tanks & Spills Map, which its spill page links as the database of reported releases. See the Tanks and Spills Map page.
• To report a spill, DANR gives (605) 773-3296 on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time, and, outside office hours, on weekends and holidays, or when the first line goes unanswered, State Radio Communications at (605) 773-3231.
• Cleanup guidance for petroleum releases is on the Petroleum Assessment and Cleanup Handbook page.

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 where spill files are kept or what a request for one must include.

Sources

South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources pages, read October 13, 2026:

• South Dakota Inspection Compliance & Remediation (the Spills Reporting page), no modified date shown.
• South Dakota Inspection, Compliance & Remediation, no modified date shown.
• Brownfields, no modified date shown.
• Storage Tank Section, no modified date shown.
• HEATING OIL TANKS, no modified date shown.
• South Dakota Storage Tanks Program, no modified date shown.
• One-Stop Permitting and Regulation Guide (2025 Edition) | SD DANR, no modified date shown; its opening letter is dated July 2026.