Section 374-60-020. Definitions.

(1) "Agency" means the Washington state pollution liability insurance agency.

(2) "Charity care" means necessary hospital health care rendered to indigent persons, to the extent that the persons are unable to pay for the care or to pay deductibles or co-insurance amounts required by a third party payor, as determined by the Washington state hospital commission. (Defined in RCW 70.39.020.)

(3) "Cleanup" means any remedial action taken that complies with WAC 173-340-450 and any remedial action taken at a site to eliminate, render less toxic, stabilize, contain, immobilize, isolate, treat, destroy, or remove a hazardous substance that complies with WAC 173-340-360.

(4) "Community assistance program" means the program established by the Washington state legislature under the provision of chapter 70.148 RCW to provide financial assistance grants to:

(a) Private owners and operators of underground petroleum storage tanks;

(b) Local governmental entities; and

(c) Rural hospitals.

(5) "Director" means the director of the Washington state pollution liability insurance agency.

(6) "Local government entity" means a unit of local government, either general purpose or special purpose, and includes but is not limited to, counties, cities, towns, school districts and other governmental and political subdivisions. The local government unit must perform a public purpose and either:

(a) Receive an annual appropriation;

(b) Have taxing power; or

(c) Derive authority from state or local government law enforcement power.

(7) "Operator" means any person in control of, or having responsibility for, the daily operation of a petroleum underground storage tank. (Defined in RCW 70.148.010.)

(8) "Owner" means any person who owns a petroleum underground storage tank. (Defined in RCW 70.148.010.)

(9) "Petroleum" means crude oil or any fraction of crude oil that is liquid at standard conditions of temperature and pressure (sixty degrees Fahrenheit and 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute) and includes gasoline, kerosene, heating oils and diesel fuels. (Defined in RCW 70.148.010.)

(10) "Private owner or operator" means any person, corporation, partnership or business that owns or operates one or more regulated petroleum underground storage tanks maintained for the purpose of providing petroleum products for retail sale to the public.

(11) "Release" means the emission, discharge, disposal, dispersal, seepage, or escape of petroleum from an underground storage tank into or upon land, groundwater, surface water, subsurface soils, or the atmosphere. (Defined in RCW 70.148.010.)

(12) "Remote rural community" means the UST site cannot be located within a city, town or urban area with a population of ten thousand or more.

(13) "Rural hospital" means a hospital located anywhere in the state except the following areas:

(a) The counties of Snohomish (including Camano Island), King, Kitsap, Pierce, Thurston, Clark and Spokane;

(b) Areas within a twenty-five mile radius of an urban area with a population exceeding thirty thousand persons; and

(c) Those cities or city-clusters located in rural counties but which for all practical purposes are urban. These areas are Bellingham, Aberdeen-Hoquiam, Longview-Kelso, Wenatchee, Yakima, Sunnyside, Richland-Kennewick-Pasco, and Walla Walla. (Defined in RCW 18.89.020.)

(14) "Serious financial hardship" means:

(a) For a private sector applicant, that the applicant can provide conclusive evidence that the business and/or business operator(s), business owner(s) having a 20% or greater interest in the business or other persons with a beneficial interest in the business' profits do not have the cash, cash equivalents or borrowing capacity to bring a petroleum underground storage tank site into compliance with all federal and state underground storage tank regulations and requirements;

(b) For a public sector applicant, that the applicant can provide conclusive evidence that the unit of government does not have adequate fund balances, debt capacity or other local revenue generating options to bring a petroleum underground storage tank site into compliance with all federal and state underground storage tank regulations and requirements; and

(c) For a rural hospital, that the applicant can provide conclusive evidence that the rural hospital does not have the cash, cash equivalents or borrowing capacity to bring a petroleum underground storage tank site into compliance with all federal and state underground storage tank regulations and requirements.

(15) "Sole source" means the only retailer of petroleum products to the motoring public that is located in a city or town or, if the retailer is remote from a community, the only business within a minimum of a five-mile radius where the motoring public can purchase petroleum products. For retailers that meet the requirements of RCW 70.148.130 (20)(b), the business must be the only one within a minimum of a ten-mile radius.

(16) "Underground storage tank (UST)" means any one or combination of tanks, including underground pipes connected to the tank, that is used to contain an accumulation of petroleum and the volume of which (including the volume of underground pipes connected to the tank) is ten percent or more beneath the surface of the ground. (Defined in RCW 70.148.010.)

(17) "UST site" means the location at which underground storage tanks are in place or will be placed. An UST site encompasses all of the property with a contiguous ownership that is associated with the use of the tanks. (Defined in WAC 173-360-120.)

(18) "Vital local government, public health, education, recreation or safety need" means an essential or indispensable service provided by government for citizens.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 70.148.130. WSR 05-19-080, § 374-60-020, filed 9/20/05, effective 10/21/05. Statutory Authority: Chapter 70.148 RCW. WSR 93-04-041 (Order 93-01), § 374-60-020, filed 1/27/93, effective 2/27/93; WSR 91-24-048, § 374-60-020, filed 11/27/91, effective 12/28/91.]

RCW 70.148.130. WSR 05-19-080, § 374-60-020, filed 9/20/05, effective 10/21/05. Statutory Authority: Chapter 70.148 RCW. WSR 93-04-041 (Order 93-01), § 374-60-020, filed 1/27/93, effective 2/27/93; WSR 91-24-048, § 374-60-020, filed 11/27/91, effective 12/28/91.

Rules

173-340-450,173-340-360,173-360-120,