62-762.421. Financial Responsibility  


Effective on Monday, June 26, 2023
  • 1(1) Financial responsibility is the ability to pay for cleanup of a discharge and third-party liability resulting from a discharge of petroleum or petroleum product at the facility.

    29(2) Financial responsibility shall be maintained and demonstrated to the County or Department for all storage tank systems until the storage tank systems are properly closed pursuant to subsections 5862-762.801(2) 59and (3), and 62-762.802(3) and (4), F.A.C., and the Closure Report or the Limited Closure Report Form for ASTs 7862-762.901(8), 79effective date, October 2019, 83hereby adopted and incorporated by reference, is submitted to and approved by the County or the Department. 100To obtain copies of Form 10562-762.901(8), 106see Rule 10862-762.901, 109F.A.C., or 111http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-10745, 113or the Department’s website at https://floridadep.gov/waste/permitting-compliance-assistance/content/storage-tank-system-rules-forms-and-reference. Pursuant to Section 122376.309(1), F.S., 124t125he facility owner is required to establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility and is liable in event of noncompliance. If the facility owner, facility operator, tank owner, and tank operator are separate persons, then evidence of financial responsibility may be demonstrated if one of those persons obtains financial responsibility on behalf of the facility owner.

    181(3) 182The demonstration of financial responsibility for storage tank systems shall be made 194in accordance with reference guideline 199Technical Standards And Corrective Action Requirements For Owners And Operators Of Underground Storage Tanks (UST), Financial Responsibility, 21640 CFR Part 280, 220Subpart H, Financial Responsibility, revised July 15, 2015, which is adopted and incorporated by reference in subsection 62-671.420(3), F.A.C., and available at 242https://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-15341, 244except that:

    246(a) 247Department Form 24962-761.900(3) 250Financial Mechanisms for Storage Tanks, June 2023, shall be used in lieu of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s financial wording. Form 27262-761.900(3), 273effective June 2023, 276is adopted and incorporated by reference in subsection 28462-761.420(3), 285F.A.C., and available on the Department’s website at https://floridadep.gov/waste/permitting-compliance-assistance/content/storage-tank-financial-responsibility, or here: 296http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-15410;

    298(b) All references to underground storage tank(s) (UST) within 30740 CFR Part 280, 311Subpart H, as adopted by reference herein, shall mean aboveground storage tank(s) (AST);

    324(c) Owners or operators of petroleum or petroleum product aboveground storage tanks must demonstrate financial responsibility for taking corrective action and for compensating third parties for bodily injury and property damage caused by accidental releases arising from the operation of petroleum or petroleum product aboveground storage tanks in at least the following per-occurrence and annual aggregate amounts:

    3811. For a facility with a storage tank system or systems with a cumulative capacity greater than 550 gallons and less than or equal to 10,000 gallons, the demonstration of financial responsibility for cleanup of a discharge and third-party liability shall be a minimum of $500,000.00 per incident, and $1,000,000.00 million annual aggregate.

    4382. For a facility with a storage tank system or systems with a cumulative capacity greater than 10,000 gallons and less than or equal to 30,000 gallons, the demonstration of financial responsibility for cleanup of a discharge and third-party liability shall be a minimum of $1,000,000.00 million per incident, and $1,000,000.00 million annual aggregate.

    4983. For a facility with a storage tank system or systems with a cumulative capacity greater than 30,000 gallons and less than or equal to 250,000 gallons the demonstration of financial responsibility for cleanup of a discharge and third-party liability shall be a minimum of $1,000,000.00 million per incident, and $2,000,000.00 million annual aggregate.

    5584. For a facility with a storage tank system or systems with a cumulative capacity greater than 250,000 gallons, the demonstration of financial responsibility for cleanup of a discharge and third-party liability shall be a 594minimum of $3,597000,000.00 599million per incident, and $6,604000,000.00 606million annual aggregate.

    609(4) The appropriate part(s) of Form 61562-761.900(3) 616shall be completed and maintained when demonstrating proof of financial responsibility under this rule, 630and Form 63262-761.900(3) 633Part P will satisfy the 638Certification of Financial Responsibility 642requirements of 64440 CFR 280.111(b)(11)647. Facility owners shall ensure that copies of the current financial responsibility document(s) are available for inspection at the facility where the storage tank system(s) is located or at their place of business. Records kept off-site shall be made available for inspection by the Department or County within five business days 698from the receipt of the Department’s or County’s request707. Facility owners are required to maintain evidence of financial responsibility mechanisms in accordance with paragraph 72362-762.711(3)(j), 724F.A.C., and are encouraged to maintain all correspondence associated with coverage and claims.

    737(5) Financial requirements for the purpose of this rule, regardless of the date of installation of storage tank systems, 756shall comply with 759this rule761.

    762(6) Notwithstanding the facility owner’s financial responsibility status, those persons specified in sections 775376.308(1), 776and 777403.141 778and 779403.161, F.S., 781shall be liable for any discharge at the facility.

    790(7) Financial responsibility mechanisms may not include choice of law and venue in favor of jurisdictions other 807than Florida.

    809(8) 810Government-owned facilities demonstrating proof of financial assurance using a financial test or government fund must prepare the relevant parts of Form 83162-761.900(3) 832within 180 days after the close of each succeeding fiscal year.

    843Rulemaking Authority 845376.303 FS. 847Law Implemented 849376.303, 850376.308, 851376.309, 852403.091, 853403.141, 854403.161 FS. 856History-New 1-11-17, Amended 10-17-19, 4-1-21, 6-26-23.
    862Editori863al Note: 865Portions of this rule were copied from Rule 87362-762.401, 874F.A.C., 875on 1-11-2017.