Petroleum Tank Cleanup Section Special Legislative Funding Update
The Montana Legislature appropriated $1,875,000 to the Petroleum Tank Cleanup Section during the 2021 legislative session to address petroleum releases across the State. Releases addressed with this funding have to meet certain criteria with the majority being legacy orphan sites where the current owner did not cause or contribute to the petroleum contamination, but the release needs additional investigation and/or cleanup to resolve the release. Funding has also been used to hire contractors to review files and reports and write closure packets for releases.
SLF Project Summary
- 35 Petroleum Releases approved and moving forward to a new milestone using SLF
- 15 Task Orders executed in 2021-2022
- 5 Task Orders fully completed
- 6 Task Orders anticipated in 2023
- 21 Releases Assessed for Closure
- 19 were Legacy Releases (25 years or older since confirmed date)
- 12 Resolved
- 9 Pending Review/Approval
 Cost Summary
| Total cost of 15 TOs approved and under contract: |
$ 948,793.02 |
| Estimated cost for five (5) TOs approved and being developed: |
$ 305,000.00 |
| Total money obligated by DEQ as of 10/21/2022: |
$ 1,106,623.10 |
| Total balance to be obligated for future projects: |
1,875,000 –1,403,793.02= $496,181.98 |
| Total invoiced (spent) as of 01/11/2023: |
$702,825.62 |
| Total fund balance remaining to be invoiced: |
1,875,000 – 702,825.62 = $1,172,174.38 |
 Key Projects
Owners and Operators Performing Monthly and Annual Walkthrough Inspections
Some owners and operators have expressed confusion about what walkthrough inspections are necessary and when they are due. Here is a little insight to make sure you are doing it correctly.
The first monthly and annual walkthrough inspection were due by October 13, 2021. This means that every facility in Montana must have had at least 12 months of walkthrough inspections and at least one annual walkthrough inspection by the time you read this (January 2023).
Your 2022 walkthrough inspection form should look like this:
 No matter what, you must have done all of the monthly walkthrough inspections and one annual inspection for 2022. Your compliance inspector will ask you for last years form as well as the up-to-date form for 2023. If your 2022 walkthrough inspection form does not have an annual inspection recorded on it, please do it as soon as possible.
Your 2023 inspection form should look like this:
 You are not required to have an annual inspection done until 5/22/2023 (per this example). This is one year after the last annual inspection was done. You can do it earlier if you want, but you cannot do it later than 5/22/2023.
I hope this helps explain what inspections must be done and when they are required to be done.
If you would like a copy of the latest form, you can download it from https://deq.mt.gov/files/Land/UST/Documents/PDFfiles/WalkthroughInspectionForm.pdf.
If you have any questions about the form or monthly and annual inspections, please contact the UST Program at 406-444-5300 or dequstprogram@mt.gov.
Montana DEQ 2022 Underground Storage Tank Public Record Report
The UST Public Records Report (Report) is published annually and posted on the UST Leak Prevention Program website. The Report indicates the number of active federally regulated tanks, and facilities as well as the number of confirmed petroleum releases in Montana.
The UST program reported a significant increase of 177 tanks and 13 facilities in the last year. This represents the increase in development occurring in Montana.
DEQ recorded 28 new petroleum releases in Montana in 2022. This is down from the 35 releases in 2021, and the five-year average of 30 new releases each year. This low rate of releases represents good leak prevention practices among Montana’s petroleum industry and consumers. The source and cause of petroleum releases are presented in the following tables.
DEQ Underground Storage Tank Leak Prevention Program
- Reporting Period: October 1, 2021 - September 30, 2022
- Number of Tanks: 3,932 (Pending EPA Quality Control Review)
- Number of Facilities: 1,240 (Pending EPA Quality Control Review)
- Number of Inspections: 507 (Includes all Regular, Temporarily Out of Use, and Oversight. On-site inspections measure compliance with state regulations per 75-11-509 MCA and ARM 17.56.309(1)
- Inspections of federal and state regulated tanks)
- Compliance Rate: 67% (Reflects both federal and state compliance rates)
DEQ Petroleum Tank Cleanup Section
- Release Reporting Period: October 1, 2021– September 30, 2022
- Confirmed Releases: 28
- Federally regulated = 17
- State regulated = 11
- Site-Specific Information for Montana Underground Storage Tanks and Releases can be obtained by contacting DEQ:
- Phone:
- Waste & Underground Tank Management Bureau (406) 444-5300
- Remediation (406) 444-6444
- Mail:
- MT DEQ
PO BOX 200901
Helena, MT 59620
- Walk-in:
- Waste & Underground Tank Management Bureau
1520 E Sixth Ave
Helena, MT
- Remediation
1225 Cedar Street
Helena, MT
- Online:
 
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