“The EPA does not require spill-prevention actions by operators of aboveground chemical storage tanks, a regulatory gap that continues to exist 20 months after a chemical tank spill that led to a 10-day public drinking water ban for 300,000 West Virginians.
The Environmental Protection Agency has for decades had clear statutory authority to require spill-prevention actions for the tanks, officials told Bloomberg BNA 2014 (90 DEN B-1, 5/9/14).
Also, for decades, the EPA has had spill-prevention regulations on above-ground tanks containing petroleum products or hazardous waster. Since the early 1980s, the agency also has had spill-prevention regulations for chemical storage tanks that are underground.
According to environmental groups, the absence of an EPA spill-prevention requirement for chemical above-ground tanks puts people and the environment at unnecessary risk”
“Paul C. Dritsas, a partner in the environment and energy practice group at McCarter & English LLP in Newark, N.J., said New Jersey has ‘a robust set of environmental laws’ and is ‘more activist than other states.'”