Wisconsin
Storage Tank Registration
In Wisconsin, storage tanks are registered with the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), whose Bureau of Weights and Measures reviews, registers, permits and inspects systems that store and dispense petroleum and other hazardous liquids. DATCP's permitting and registration page says ATCP 93 requires a facility that stores, transfers or dispenses flammable, combustible or hazardous liquids to register with DATCP.
In a Phase I ESA
DATCP's tank registrations are the Wisconsin 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. Releases are a separate record, on the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) activities page.
Three Wisconsin details shape the search.
- Both kinds of tank must be registered, with exemptions. DATCP publishes one registration form for underground tanks and another for aboveground tanks. Its permitting and registration page exempts from registration aboveground tanks of less than 5,000 gallons, tank vehicles, portable or movable tanks on a property for less than 24 months, and tanks at an EPA Superfund site. Check whether a tank is of an exempt kind before reading a missing registration as a missing tank.
- The permit exemptions are a different list. The same page lists separate exemptions from the permit to operate: aboveground tanks, farm and residential underground motor fuel tanks under 1,100 gallons, underground heating oil tanks used on the premises, and tanks at an EPA Superfund site. The two underground kinds are not on its list of registration exemptions.
- The database rests on what others supplied. DATCP's disclaimer says the database comes from registration details others supplied to it, and a tank's entry may be incomplete, out of date or wrong. The database page's search tips add that searching by different fields can give different results, because some details are missing or only partly match, so run the search more than one way.
The permitting and registration page says a tank holding a regulated substance, in use or temporarily out of service, must be registered within 15 business days of the end of its installation, and a change of owner, mailing address or facility sent to DATCP within 15 business days of the change.
What a tank file can hold
DATCP's forms page shows the paper a tank can generate:
- the Underground Flammable/Combustible Liquid Storage Tank Registration (TR-WM-137) or the Aboveground Flammable/Combustible Liquid Storage Tank Registration (TR-WM-118);
- the Storage Tank Change of Ownership form (TR-WM-153) and the Storage Tank Permit Application (TR-WM-160);
- installation applications, tightness test reports and repair reports;
- the Checklist and Report for Tank Closure (TSSA) (Parts A and B), TR-WM-140.
For a closed tank, ask whether the file holds the closure checklist and report. Two pages disagree on one form: the permitting and registration page links its underground tank registration line to the TR-WM-153 files, which the forms page lists as the change of ownership form. This handbook did not open either file. DATCP's Petroleum and Storage Tanks page lists ATCP 93, ATCP 94 and Wis. Stat. ch. 168 among its laws; its Laws and Regulations page labels the third Wis. Admin. Code ยง 168, linking the same address.
Where to look a site up
- DATCP's Storage Tank Database page opens its Storage Tank Search, which takes a county with a street number or name, an owner's last name or business name, or a facility ID. The page also links the entire database as a single file it warns is very large. This handbook opened neither.
- For questions about the database, that page gives (608) 224-5147 and datcpweightsandmeasures@wisconsin.gov, and the Public Records page gives (608) 224-4942, option 3.
Getting the file
DATCP's Public Records page says copies of the records behind a database entry take a public records request, and gives DATCPPublicRecords@wisconsin.gov for more information. It links a document on how to file a request, which this handbook did not open. The pages read do not say where tank files are kept or how long a request takes.
Sources
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection pages, read October 14, 2026, no modified date shown: