EPA Proposes Streamlined Vapor Recovery Permitting and Adjusted Tank Thresholds
Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency is advancing a proposed rule to streamline compliance for petroleum operations in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
The action targets volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions while simultaneously rolling back select bureaucratic hurdles.
Operations on the ground will see immediate administrative relief if the rule is finalized.
Missouri is aligning its St. Louis regulations with existing Kansas City standards, fundamentally altering how gasoline dispensing facilities handle compliance.
The state is stripping away unnecessarily restrictive language and overhauling its oversight mechanics.
The state is completely eliminating the formal permitting requirement for modifications to vapor recovery systems at gasoline dispensing facilities. A new, streamlined procedural process takes its place.
The minimum capacity threshold for smaller regulated tanks shifts upward from 500 gallons to 550 gallons. Facilities operating tanks holding between 500 and 549 gallons are now entirely carved out of this compliance bracket.
The rule tightens testing and reporting obligations, updates incorporations by reference to other state rules, and adds highly specific definitions to eliminate enforcement ambiguity.
"In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian reservation land or in any other area where EPA or an Indian Tribe has demonstrated that a Tribe has jurisdiction."
The regulation strictly bounds its authority. It zeroes in on petroleum liquid storage, loading, and transfer facilities. Specifically, gasoline dispensing operations within the St. Louis metropolitan area.
Beyond the explicit carve-out for Indian country, the EPA confirms the action operates without triggering broader federal economic mandates, officially exempting the rule from significant regulatory reviews under Executive Orders 12866, 14192, and 13211.
