West Virginia
Underground Storage Tanks
West Virginia Underground Storage Tanks
Underground storage tanks that contain petroleum or hazardous substances are regulated in West Virginia by the Underground Storage Tank (UST) Section of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP). WVDEP says the state has had full program approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since February 1988. Among the services WVDEP lists for the section are receiving notification forms, registering tanks, receiving proof of financial responsibility, and maintaining the database and files of registered USTs.
In a Phase I ESA
WVDEP's UST registrations are the West Virginia 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. Leaks are a separate record, the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Program.
WVDEP's UST FAQ answers several questions a buyer's consultant is asked.
- Who owns an old tank turns on one date. WVDEP says that if the tanks were in use on November 8, 1984, or were brought into use after that date, a buyer of the land buys the tanks, as fixtures of the land. If the tanks have not been used since November 8, 1984, the owner is the person who owned them immediately before their use was discontinued. WVDEP cautions that a buyer who does not become the owner under the tank rules may still be subject to strict liability under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and may be liable under other environmental statutes if the property is contaminated.
- Fees can reach back. Registration fees are invoiced each year, and WVDEP says fees not paid in the past are retroactive to 1988. The FAQ gives the current fee as $90 per tank per year, plus $5 per tank for the groundwater protection program. A certificate of registration is mailed when fees are paid.
- A sale has a notice. A seller must notify WVDEP's Charleston office in writing at least 30 days before transferring ownership of tanks, naming the new owner. A new owner must register the tanks within 30 days and may operate them only once they are registered.
- A removal leaves a closure report. A written notice of intent to close is due to WVDEP 30 days before the closure starts, and a Class B certified worker must be on site during a permanent closure. WVDEP's closure forms include an intent to close form and a closure report form with tank and piping information sheets. For a tank that was removed, those are the documents to ask for.
One more record is public. Since July 1, 2008, a UST system that fails certain requirements, among them release detection, corrosion prevention, financial responsibility and payment of fees, may be made ineligible to receive product and tagged. WVDEP's guidance says it posts the facility name, address and county on its website while a ban is in place and removes them once compliance is achieved. Its Delivery Prohibition page carries a table of UST delivery prohibited sites.
Where to look a site up
- WVDEP's AST/UST Public Report Portal. WVDEP says the public can use it to obtain AST, LAST, UST and LUST tank related data.
- The Delivery Prohibition page, for tanks under a delivery ban.
- WVDEP lists among the UST team's tasks that it provides information, where possible, to individuals who are buying property with USTs. The Tanks Unit number printed on the UST page is 304-926-0495; WVDEP's Storage Tanks page prints 304-926-0499 for the same unit.
Getting the file
WVDEP says more information about individual UST facilities can be found in its document database, Application Enhancer, and its Storage Tanks page links Application Enhancer instructions. For anything not found, the route is a Freedom of Information Act request through the electronic form on WVDEP's Request Information page or by email to depfoia@wv.gov. More on both is on the Application Enhancer page.
Sources
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection pages, read October 7, 2026, no modified date shown: