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5/17/2022
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Senate OKs bill to expand Underground Storage Tank Fund to cover home heating oil spills
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STATE HOUSE – A fund that helps pay to clean up oil leaks at gas stations could be tapped to help homeowners who experience heating oil spills under legislation sponsored by Sen. Meghan E. Kallman and approved by the Senate today.
The legislation (2022-S 2750) would expand the purposes of the Rhode Island Underground Storage Tank Financial Responsibility Fund to include cleanups of spills of residential heating oil.
“Allowing the Underground Storage Tank Financial Responsibility Fund to cover residential oil spills provides an extra layer of insurance for our environment and for homeowners. Oil spills can be catastrophic in terms of pollution, property destruction and costs. Expanding the fund to cover spills of home heating oil will better ensure that every oil spill, regardless of the type of oil, will be appropriately cleaned up,” said Senator Kallman (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket, Providence).
The fund currently has a surplus of more than $1 million, largely because, fortunately, Rhode Island has not experienced many significant gasoline spills or leaks in recent years.
About one-third of Rhode Island homes are heated with oil.
The legislation is supported by the Department of Environmental Management (DEM), which administers the fund. DEM Director Terrence Gray testified that DEM responds to about 80 home heating oil releases around the state annually. In most cases, he said, homeowners’ insurance or an oil company’s insurance will pay to clean up accidental releases of home heating oil. But in the unusual case that a spill is not covered by an insurer, having the fund available would ensure that the spill is properly remediated, protecting the environment.
Under existing law, the fund is limited to paying out no more than $1 million per incident, and the responsible party is required to pay the first $20,000 of the costs.
The legislation also eliminates the Rhode Island Underground Storage Tank Advisory Board, which has not met in years. The board gradually became unnecessary as DEM took over the fund, which began as a quasi-public agency.
The legislation now goes to the House of Representatives, where Rep. Scott A. Slater (D-Dist. 10, Providence) is sponsoring companion legislation (2022-H 7921).
For more information, contact:
Meredyth R. Whitty, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-1923
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