Vermont
Underground storage tanks
In Vermont, the Storage Tanks Section of the Hazardous Materials Program, in the Waste Management and Prevention Division of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), works to prevent releases of liquid petroleum and hazardous substances, not including propane, from underground storage tank (UST) systems. Vermont's UST Rules regulate the installation and operation of USTs. They first came into effect in 1985, and the current rules came into effect on October 26, 2020.
In a Phase I ESA
DEC's underground tank records are the Vermont form of the state registered storage tank records that ASTM E1527-21 lists as a standard source. DEC's pages speak of permitted UST facilities, not registered tanks; the pairing is the handbook's reading. The general reading of a registered tank listing is on the UST / AST page. Aboveground tanks have their own rules and pages; see Aboveground storage tanks.
The pages read do not say whether removed or closed tanks remain in DEC's tank search. They link no search of tank release cases; the Petroleum Cleanup Fund's annual report attachments include a map labeled Distribution of VT PCF Releases, which this handbook did not open. DEC sends a storage tank release to its Spill Management page for reporting, and for contamination found during a UST removal it points to the Sites Management Section (see Contaminated sites). Certain uninsured cleanup costs for petroleum releases from tanks may be paid by the Petroleum Cleanup Fund (PCF), subject to available funding.
What a tank file can hold
DEC's pages show the paper an underground tank can generate:
- An annual self-certification. Permitted UST facilities must complete an annual inspection of each UST system for compliance. The facility's A/B operator self-certifies that each system complies with the Vermont UST Rules by completing the inspection online. To self-certify, the facility must complete an A/B operator training course.
- A red tag. DEC's Red-Tagged Facilities page says 10 V.S.A. ยง 1927(d) gives the program authority to prohibit delivery to a category 1 UST that fails the standards for corrosion protection, spill prevention, leak detection, financial responsibility and overfill protection. The designation is usually made by fixing a red metal tag to the fill pipe. The page posts a current list of red-tagged facilities.
- A closure form and a release assessment. DEC's UST removal page links a UST Closure Release Assessment Guidance and a closure form for tank and piping closure or removal. It says environmental consultants can perform release assessments during a tank removal or closure to determine whether petroleum was released from the UST system.
For a tank that was removed or closed in place, the closure form and the release assessment that went with it are the documents to ask for.
Where to look a site up
- DEC's storage tank pages link a search for a facility using the Environmental Research Tool (ERT) and the ANR Atlas.
- The Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) page also links a UST End of Year Summary and a UST Inspection List for Permitted Tanks for Current Year. This handbook did not open them, so it does not say what they contain.
- The Storage Tanks Section is at 1 National Life Drive, Davis 3, Montpelier, VT 05620-3521, and at 802-828-1138.
Getting the file
DEC's pages link, in their footer, Request public information and Department of Environmental Conservation Records Liaisons, both on the Agency of Natural Resources' public records page, which this handbook did not read. The pages read for this program give no route of their own for a tank file.
Sources
Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown: