Barrow Logo Barrow EP Handbook

South Dakota

Storage Tanks

Agency South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources
ASTM search distance Subject property and adjoining properties

In South Dakota, storage tanks come under the storage tank section of the Inspection, Compliance, and Remediation Program of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR). DANR administers the federal underground storage tank program in the state, and it has brought aboveground tanks under its rules as well, since they can also leak. DANR's permitting guide says the owner or operator of a facility with a regulated tank holding petroleum or another regulated substance must register that tank with DANR, and must send plans and specifications to DANR for review and approval before a regulated tank goes in.

In a Phase I ESA

DANR's tank records are the South Dakota 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. A release is reported separately, through Spills Reporting, and is looked up on the Tanks and Spills Map.

Four South Dakota details shape the search.

  • Not every tank is a regulated tank. DANR's tank FAQ lists underground tanks left out of the state definition, and aboveground tanks exempt, excluded or deferred from regulation. For underground tanks these include farm or residential tanks with a capacity of 1,100 gallons or less used for motor fuel for noncommercial purposes, tanks holding heating oil burned on the same property, septic tanks, flow-through process tanks, and tanks sitting on or above the floor of a basement or similar underground space. For aboveground tanks the list includes any farm or residential motor fuel tank used for noncommercial purposes, with no size limit given. So a property can hold a tank that no registration shows.
  • Heating oil tanks are outside the tank rules but not the spill rules. DANR says contamination from a heating oil tank falls under spill reporting, and that a spill of more than 25 gallons must be reported.
  • Some tanks on reservations are EPA's. DANR's FAQ says EPA's Region 8 office in Denver, which it lists at (303) 312-6788, regulates the underground tanks that registered Native Americans own and operate inside reservation boundaries, not the state. For such a tank, ask EPA as well as DANR.
  • Older tanks faced deadlines. DANR's closing tanks page says an underground tank installed before November 30, 1987 and regulated by DANR had to be upgraded, replaced or properly closed by December 22, 1998. Its FAQ names October 13, 2021 as the deadline for meeting the newer requirements, and says a regulated owner who missed it faces a Notice of Violation and a penalty.

DANR's permitting guide lists the tank statutes as SDCL 34A-2-98, 34A-2-99, 34A-2-100 and 34A-2-101 and the rules as ARSD 74:56:01, 74:56:02 and 74:56:03.

When a tank is closed

DANR's closing tanks page describes two kinds of closure for an underground tank.

  • Temporary. A tank may be closed for up to 12 months while leak detection and any corrosion protection keep running (an empty tank needs no leak detection). After three months, the vent lines stay open and the other lines, pumps and manways are capped and secured.
  • Permanent. The owner tells DANR at least 30 days ahead, then has the site assessed for leaks. DANR describes the simplest assessment as soil samples from beneath each tank removed (or as near the tank basin as possible for a tank closed in place) and from beneath the dispenser. A distribution line longer than 25 feet needs a soil sample beneath it as well, and a laboratory tests the samples. Whoever collects samples for petroleum hydrocarbon analysis must hold South Dakota certification. The results go to DANR. Clean results bring a tank closure letter from DANR; contamination may lead to corrective action.

DANR's FAQ adds that an underground tank may be left in place if an assessment shows no release, with a certified petroleum release assessor or remediator taking the soil samples, and with DANR reviewing the results before the tank is abandoned. For a closed tank, ask whether the file holds the closure sampling results and DANR's tank closure letter.

DANR's forms for storage tanks

DANR's notification and testing forms page lists, among others, an Underground Storage Tank Notification Form, an Aboveground Storage Tank Notification Form, a Change of Ownership Form, a Tank Removal Notification Form, and testing forms for cathodic protection, spill prevention equipment, overfill prevention equipment and containment sumps. The pages read do not say which completed ones DANR keeps on file.

Where to look a site up

  • DANR's Tanks & Spills Map is the tank search. DANR's Data & Mapping page says it shows regulated tank sites, and its SARA Title III page links it as a searchable database of registered tanks.
  • DANR's FAQ names the program's underground storage tank section as the first place to call with tank questions; its number is (605) 773-3296. DANR's Closing Tanks page gives DANR.TankSectionICR@state.sd.us for tank questions; its FAQ and heating oil pages link a different address, DENRINTERNET@state.sd.us.

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 tank 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:

Maintained by Barrow. General reference only, not legal or professional advice. Barrow is not affiliated with any government agency, and neither Barrow nor the information as presented here is endorsed by any state or government agency. See how Barrow drafts the report